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No major drama as rain impacts Walpurgis night

The annual Walpurgis night (Valborg) passed without any major incidents with chilly conditions in the north and rain in the capital dampening the mood, but there were reports of drunkenness and fighting elsewhere.

Published: 1 May 2014 10:37 CEST
No major drama as rain impacts Walpurgis night
People gather to see the fireworks in Stockholm on Walpurgis Night 2014. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT

In Enskede, south Stockholm, a man was stabbed in the leg late in the evening and a suspect was subsequently arrested on charges of attempted manslaughter. The man's injuries are understood not to be life-threatening according to the police.

In Norrköping, eastern Sweden, a man in his 20s was stabbed in the arm. Police were called out to an address, where there was a private party taking place, and have identified a potential suspect.

Down south in Oxie, in Malmö, there were reports of a major brawl involving weapons. One person was was taken to hospital by ambulance while two others were driven to A&E by the police.

Elsewhere in Skåne there were minor disturbances in Lund's city park where a large crowd had gathered for the festivities. 

Police hauled 15 people into custody for drunken behaviour, one was arrested for aggravated assault while another was arrested for assault. Four were arrested for mugging and one for assaulting an official.

"Considering that more than 30,000 people gathered in such a small space, we would probably have anticipated more (trouble). We also confiscated a large amount of alcohol from young people, around 80 or so," Hans Nilsson of the Skåne police told the TT news agency.

The authorities were also kept busy with a number of alcohol seizures from underage drinkers. In Halmstad, western Sweden, police raided a garage after two 17-year-old individuals were apprehended for having illegal alcohol.

At the garage the police found 50 litres of vodka, 40 litres of wine and 60 cases of beer and cider. Two people are now suspected for having violated alcohol law.

In Gothenburg, 30 people were taken into custody for being drunk and disorderly.

In Värmland, western Sweden, the unseasonal cold weather was cited by police as the likely cause for an unusually quiet night.

"Nobody wants to be out in that so we are delighted with that,"Bjarne Andersson of the Värmland police told TT.

Meanwhile in Stockholm the night was described as relatively calm thanks to the rain.  

TT/The Local/pr

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POLITICS

Sweden Democrat justice committee chair steps down over hate crime suspicion

The Sweden Democrat head of parliament’s justice policy committee, Richard Jomshof, has stepped down pending an investigation into hate crimes.

Published: 13 September 2024 13:33 CEST
Updated: 13 September 2024 14:38 CEST
Sweden Democrat justice committee chair steps down over hate crime suspicion

Jomshof told news site Kvartal’s podcast that he had been called to questioning on Tuesday next week, where he’s been told he is to be formally informed he is suspected of agitation against an ethnic or national group (hets mot folkggrupp), a hate crime.

Prosecutor Joakim Zander confirmed the news, but declined to comment further.

“I can confirm what Jomshof said. He is to be heard as suspected on reasonable grounds of agitation against an ethnic or national group,” he told the TT newswire.

“Suspected on reasonable grounds” (skäligen misstänkt) is Sweden’s lower degree of suspicion, compared to the stronger “probable cause” (på sannolika skäl misstänkt).

The investigation relates to posts by other accounts which Jomshof republished on the X platform on May 28th.

One depicts a Muslim refugee family who is welcomed in a house which symbolises Europe, only to set the house on fire and exclaim “Islam first”. The other shows a Pakistani refugee who shouts for help and is rescued by a boat which symbolises England. He then attacks the family who helped him with a bat labelled “rape jihad”, according to TT.

Jomshof has stepped down from his position as chair of the justice committee while he’s under investigation.

“I don’t want this to be about my chairmanship of the committee, I don’t want the parties we collaborate with to get these questions again about whether or not they have confidence in me, but I want this to be about the issue at hand,” he said.

“The issue is Islamism, if you may criticise it or not, and that’s about free speech.”

It’s not the first time Jomshof has come under fire for his comments on Islam.

Last year, he called the Prophet Mohammed a “warlord, mass murderer, slave trader and bandit” in another post on X, sparking calls from the opposition for his resignation.

The Social Democrats on Friday urged Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, whose Moderate-led government relies on the Sweden Democrats’ support, not to let Jomshof return to the post as chair of the justice committee.

“The prime minister is to be the prime minister for the people as a whole,” said Ardalan Shekarabi, the Social Democrat deputy chairman of the justice committee, adding that it was “sad” that Jomshof had ever been elected chairman in the first place.

“When his party supports a person with clear extremist opinions, on this post, there’s no doubt that the cohesion of our society is damaged and that the government parties don’t stand up against hate and agitation,” TT quoted Shekarabi as saying.

Liberal party secretary Jakob Olofsgård, whose party is a member of the government but is seen as the coalition party that’s the furthest from the Sweden Democrats, wrote in a comment to TT: “I can say that I think it is reasonable that Richard Jomshof chooses to quit as chairman of the justice committee pending this process.”

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