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Danes among those injured in Malmö clash

A protest against the Party of the Swedes spiralled out of control in Malmö, Sweden on Saturday. Around 200 Danes crossed the Øresund Bridge to participate and at least two of them were injured.

Published: 24 August 2014 10:00 CEST
Danes among those injured in Malmö clash
Police mounted on horses move against counter-demonstrators protesting against an election meeting arranged by the neo-Nazi party Svenskarnas Parti, in Malmö, Sweden. Photo: Drago Prvulovic/Scanpix
A planned manifestation against the neo-Nazi Party of the Swedes spiralled out of control on Saturday in Malmö as police and protesters clashed leading to several injuries.
 
Ten people were taken to hospital, five with serious injuries with one of them requiring treatment in the emergency room. According to Danish news source Arbjederen, at least two of the injured were Danes.
 
Police arrested six people and took scores more into custody.
 
An estimated 1,500 people – around 200 of them coming from Denmark – gathered in Limhamn square to protest against a planned appearance by the leader of the Svenskarnas parti (Party of the Swedes) who was due to make a speech.
 
Even before the party leader, Stefan Jacobsson, showed up there were signs of potential trouble as counter protesters threw smoke bombs and fire crackers.
 
Chaos ensued when Jacobsson began speaking as his words were drowned out by protesters chanting "No Nazis on our streets." He did manage to complete his speech after which there were clashes between demonstrators and the police.
 
The authorities attempted to quell the crowd by using police horses but encountered a radical element amongst the 1,500 assembled. Local newspaper Sydsvenkan reported that most of the protesters behaved well but that there were people there intent on causing trouble.
 
The atmosphere worsened when the police mounted on horses rode into the heart of the square. A police van also collided with a protester and the incident will be investigated by the force.
 
"We were forced to ride in because masked demonstrators had moved to the outside of the square and we needed to make some arrests," police press officer Ewa-Gun Westford told the TT news agency.
 
Pictures taken by the Swedish news agency TT appear to show police horses trodding over people in the midst of the chaos.
 
"I am shocked at the police's extensive force," Matilda Renkvist of Skåne against racism, an organizer behind the demo, told Sydsvenskan.
 
Westford admitted that the pictures looked bad but that the police were forced to take action as the protest had escalated. When asked by TT if that was the right line of conduct she declined to comment.
 
Among the six people that were arrested one was being held on suspicion of assaulting a police office.

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RACISM

Danish politician target of racist abuse outside parliament

Member of the Danish parliament Sikandar Siddique and his parents were the target of racist verbal abuse during the assembly’s annual reopening day on Tuesday.

Published: 7 October 2021 13:54 CEST
Danish MP Sikandar Siddique in parliament earlier this year. Siddique and his parents endured a racist verbal attack near Christiansborg on October 5th.
Danish MP Sikandar Siddique in parliament earlier this year. Siddique and his parents endured a racist verbal attack near Christiansborg on October 5th. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen later condemned the incident in a social media post.

Siddique and his parents were accosted by a man wearing a t-shirt bearing the words “Fuck Islam” as left the parliament at Christiansborg.

The man told Siddique, along with his mother and 82-year-old father to “go home”. The incident was recorded on a video published by tabloid newspaper BT.

“Aren’t you planning to go home soon? You can take your parents with you, or whatever it is. Your Arabic culture has no place in Denmark, you’re not welcome here,” the man shouts in the video.

Siddique was born in Copenhagen and does not have Arabic heritage. His parents are originally from Pakistan.

Frederiksen subsequently strongly condemned the incident in a Facebook post.

“(Siddique) was yesterday subjected to an unheard-of racist attack right outside Christiansborg. That’s bad enough in itself. But what’s worse is that elderly parents were also subjected to an entirely unfair and boorish confrontation,” the PM wrote.

“I’m so upset about it that I will this evening ask parliament to reject the episode in unity. A racist attack on a family is an attack on all minorities. It has no place in Denmark,” she continued.

“And an attack on a democratically elected politician is an attack on democracy itself. Neither does this have any place in Denmark. My thoughts today go especially to Sikandar’s parents,” she added.

Siddique, a former member of the Alternative party who now sits as an independent, but is political spokesperson with the recently formed Independent Green Party, expressed his thanks after several political colleagues from both sides of the ideological divide pronounced their support.

“A thousand thanks for all the warm messages after what happened yesterday. It means very much, both for my parents and for me. We are fine under the circumstances and the police are now on the case,” he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

READ ALSO: Danish parliamentarians split off to form ‘green, anti-racist party’

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