TORCH NETWORK

Taken from LibCom:

Late last night several people were attacked in central Malmö by members of the fascist Svenskarnas Parti (Swedes Party). They were on their way home after having taken part in celebrations for International Women’s Day.

The incident occurred just after a nighttime demonstration against violence against women finished up at around midnight on Möllenvångstorget (a square in the heart of a multicultural and left wing district of Malmö). One person is now in intensive care with serious head injuries and a further three have suffered knife wounds to the arms and lung, amongst which was a member of Allt åt Alla Malmö. The nazis had been searching for potential victims the entire evening in the vicinity of the March 8th Festival at Moriska pavilion in Folketspark. The attack was, in other words, no coincidence.

The attack on the 8th of March demonstrators can’t be seen as an isolated incident. The arson attack on Kvarnby peoples high school in October 2013 was only the beginning of an escalation in nazi violence around Malmö. Left wing locales and premises have been exposed to graffiti and broken windows. In January a 16 year old member of SSU (Sweden’s Socialdemocratic Youth organisation) was attacked by two men, warning her about spreading her views. In several other places and cities nazis have been identified registering participants in demonstrations during International Women’s Day.

The seriously injured 25 year old, who is currently being cared for in a sedated state in hospital, is a leading figure in the fight against racism and homophobia in the football world, a SAC member and devoted supporter of Malmö FF. He also helped to found “Football fans against homophobia”. Based on this, he has been recently hung out on the Swedes Party linked website ‘Realisten’.

According to witnesses at the scene, a high ranking member of the Swedes Party – Andreas Carlsson, was involved in the attempted murder. He was seen attacking feminists with a knife. Andreas Carlsson is one of the members of the Swedes Party who travelled down to Kiev as “Ukrainafrivilliga” (Ukraine Volunteers) to support the Svoboda party’s efforts in taking power. On Realisten he has reported on the Swedish Nationalist delegation’s operation.Some of the delegations participants have stayed, according to their own reports, “to enlist in the Ukrainian army”, while Carlsson’s group returned to Sweden only a few days before the 8th of March.

The Security Services’ (Säpo) chief analyst Ahn-Za Hagström claimed on the 8th of March that they “see no increased intention or capability of committing politically motivated crimes when they get home.” (SR.se March 8th) That same evening the nazis attacked. Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said in a recent interview on Swedish Radio’s P1 channel that the Swedes Party’s sister party Svoboda are “European democrats who work for values that are ours”. This minimization and normalization of fascist parties has given the Swedes Party and their “Ukraine Volunteers” the belief that they have a free pass for their violent acts.

Not only the Security Service, but also the ordinary police have ignored the far-right violence, by depicting the murder attempt as a “gang war” between “opponents on opposite fringes”. This comes less than half a year after police ignored warnings that a similar nazi party, Svernska Motståndsrörelsen (The Swedish Resistance Movement), planned to attack the anti-racist demonstration in Kärrtorp.

It is abundantly clear that the fascist threat against Sweden and Europe, against individuals and social movements, is not taken seriously. Neither the government, the security services nor the police have been able to present a clear and coherent approach towards this. Fascist violence should never be reduced to youth fights or extreme phenomena, such as, Birgitta Ohlsson’s government extremist investigation. Then one misses the powerful political force that the fascist parties in Europe have become, the impetus it gives the corresponding parties at home in Sweden and ignores the seriousness of the weapons training and street fighting skills Swedish right-wing extremists have gained during his travels and visits with Jobbik in Hungary, Svoboda in Ukraine and the Golden Dawn in Greece these last few months.

Today, they stand for violence in the streets. In September, they stand for parliamentary elections.