Sweden links riots to criminal gangs targeting police
HELSINKI (AP) – Swedish police said on Monday that they believe that the violent riots that have shaken several cities and towns in the Nordic country are extremely serious crimes against society and suspect that some protesters are linked to criminal gangs that deliberately target police .
Sweden, a nation with 10 million, has seen riots, riots, arson and violence since Thursday that have injured some police and protesters. It was triggered by the meetings of the Danish right-wing extremist politician Rasmus Paludan and planned burning of the Koran throughout the country.
“We suspect that those involved (in the riots) have links to criminal gangs,” said National Police Chief Anders Thornberg at a press conference on Monday, adding that some of these “criminal individuals” are known to the police. “I have been in contact with the prosecutor to prosecute these people.”
Sweden’s National Police Chief Jonas Hysing said on Monday that 26 police and 14 people – protesters or other people – have been injured in the riots and that 20 police vehicles were destroyed or damaged.
The latest riots broke out on Sunday evening in Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city, when an angry crowd of mainly young people set fire to car tires, rubbish and rubbish bins in the Rosengard district. Protesters threw stones and police responded by firing tear gas at the crowd. A school and several cars were set on fire but the situation calmed down early on Monday.
A total of 11 people were arrested and three people were arrested in Malmö, a city with many inhabitants from other countries. No serious injuries were reported.
Since Thursday, in addition to Malmö, there have been reports of riots, riots and violent clashes in Stockholm, the central city of Örebro, the eastern cities of Linköping and Norrköping and southern Landskrona.
The police have been forced to use weapons in self-defense, Hysing said. Three people were injured in Norrköping on Sunday when they were hit by ricochets when the police fired warning shots at a crowd of protesters.
“There is much to suggest that the police were the target,” Hysing said, adding that some protesters are suspected of attempted murder, aggravated assault and violence against an official.
Both Thornberg and Hysing emphasized that the main target of the insurgents was Swedish police and society, not Paludan – by many Swedes seen only as an agent of provocation – and his party Stram Kurs (Hard Line), which runs an anti-immigrant, anti-hostile party. -Islams agenda.
Thornberg, Sweden’s top police chief, said that “criminal individuals” who took advantage of the situation with Paludan’s Swedish Easter tour and joined the riots, are the main suspects for having used violence. The unrest escalated rapidly after Paludan’s first demonstrations, which were met by counter-protesters in many places last week.
– We must put an end to this early. What we see here is very serious crime, says Thornberg and refers to the riots.
Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson said on Monday that he continues to have great confidence in the Swedish police despite the unrest over the weekend and promised more resources for the fight against crime.
– When you end up in these critical and aggressive situations, there is nothing the police can do but fight hard, Johannsson says to Swedish news channels. “We can not accept that perpetrators commit this type of violence.”
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry was reported on Sunday to have called on Sweden’s charge d’affaires over Paludan’s planned burning of the Koran, and said that such activity could seriously jeopardize Sweden’s relations with the Muslim world.