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CRIME

Six convicted in ‘honour’ beating with metal rods

Six men in Hallsberg, central Sweden, have been convicted and sentenced to prison after the severe honour-related beating of a 19-year-old with metal rods at a gym.

Published: 19 April 2012 13:25 CEST

The young man turned up bleeding at the reception of the local gym Alléhallen in Hallsberg in the beginning of October last year. He was quickly taken to hospital where medical staff performed emergency surgery.

Police quickly suspected six men who had been in the gym previous to the beating. They allegedly beat the 19-year-old so severely with metal bars that he was close to losing his life.

According to the prosecutor, the men wanted to protect the daughter in their family after an alleged kidnapping attempt.

The young woman’s father was convicted of aggravated assault and sentenced to four years in prison.

His three sons were all convicted of attempted murder and two will serve time in prison, two received 6 year sentences and the third 5.5 years. The two sons with the longer sentence will also be deported from Sweden after having served their time and not allowed back for at least ten years.

The man who owned the gym where the beating took place was also convicted to 2.5 years in prison while his 19-year-old son will serve one year.

Prosecutor Karl-Erik Antonsson had charged all six with attempted murder as he thought it was clear that they had acted together, that they all were aware of what was going to happen and that they left the man in such a state that he would have died, had he not been taken so quickly to hospital.

“I haven’t had a chance to read the verdict yet so I am not sure whether I will appeal, but it isn’t completely out of the question. The father was only convicted of aggravated assault and I am hesitant to accept that as nothing took place without his blessing,” Antonsson told TT.

However, he said that what makes the case difficult to judge is that the perpetrators came and went and that the father arrived at the crime scene after the first, more serious, stab wounds were dealt.

“At the same time we know that he was mapping out the victim’s movements the days before the crime was committed,” said Antonsson.

The victim’s lawyer, Elisabeth Fritz, told TT that she will be contacting her client to discuss whether he will accept the 150,000 kronor ($22,284) damages that he has been awarded, as he had asked for twice as much.

Her client was very badly beaten and there is a risk of future physical problems from an injured nerve in his face.

TT/The Local/rm

twitter.com/thelocalsweden

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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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