Sweden: Attack on anti-fascist event – ‘Nazi group behind attack’ according to organizers
Masked men hurled smoke bombs inside a theater in a southern suburb of Stockholmwhere an event against the extreme right was to take place, the police and politicians of the factions involved announced.
“Three people were taken to hospital by ambulance”police said on their website, adding that the seriousness of their condition was unclear at this stage.
About 50 people had gathered at a theater in Gubbegen, a southern suburb of the Swedish capital, to take part in an event described as an “anti-fascist rally” by the factions that organized it, the Vänsterpartiet (“Party of the Left”, radical left) and the Miljöpartiet (“Greens”, ecological).
“Nazi group behind attack” according to organizers
According to the anti-racism collective Expo, which had been invited to present at the event, a “group of Nazis” stormed the foyer shortly before the event began and threw smoke bombs into the room.
“It is terrible that an event of the Left Party became the target of an attack. I contacted Ms. (Nussi) Dadgostar (a.k.a. the head of the Left Party) and expressed my deepest support. This kind of disgusting behavior has no place in our free and open society.”Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson said, according to Swedish news agency TT.
All Swedish political party leaders expressed their support, calling the episode “an attack on democracy”, the agency added.
Nusi Dadgostar condemned the fact that an “open event for equality between people” was the target of a “violent attack by people who appeared to be Nazis”, according to the SVT television network.
“All democratic political forces must now stand up and fight against the extreme right, which threatens our democracy,” he added.
