Month: January 2024

German Economics Minister and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) has called for tough action by the security authorities against the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, with Habeck claiming the party wants to “destroy democracy” and “turn Germany into a state like Russia.”

The minister outlined to Stern magazine a detailed picture of what the intelligence services, police and public prosecutors now have to do against the AfD.

“So the security authorities must also take systematic action, collect evidence, keep a close eye on sub-groups, individuals, events and statements,” said Habeck.

Habeck says that he will not rule out an AfD ban, but was concerned that such an application could fail before the Federal Constitutional Court. Such an outcome would benefit the AfD.

“The right-wing autocrats want to attack the essence of the republic,” Habeck continued. “They want to turn Germany into a state like Russia. They are systematically preparing for this.”

Habeck did not give any examples to support his claims; however, the AfD has never called for ending the democratic process or installing a dictator. In fact, the party has actually called for Swiss-style nationwide referendums to be made available to the German public to increase democracy in the country.

It is the Greens, the Left party, and the SPD who are currently calling for a ban on an opposition party, a move typically seen in countries like Russia or Ukraine.

There is enormous pressure on Germany’s entire political establishment due to the rise of the AfD, with the latest poll putting the party at 24 percent nationwide, while the ruling left-liberal government is crashing to new lows.

Neuer Umfrage-Knaller: @AfD (24 Prozent) überholt die #CDU bundesweit!

Die #AfD baut ihre starken #Umfrage-Werte weiter aus und liegt jetzt auch #bundesweit vor der CDU! Das #Meinungsforschungsinstitut „#YouGov“ notiert die #Partei erstmals bei 24 Prozent (#Sonntagsfrage). Das… pic.twitter.com/qNwnRC0jZF

— Deutschland Kurier (@Deu_Kurier) January 15, 2024

State elections will also take place in the autumn of 2024 in the east, where the AfD is incredibly popular and currently comfortably in first place. In states such as Saxony, the AfD may perform so well that it attains an absolute majority, allowing it to rule without coalition partners.

Habeck called for “toughness in line with our laws” against the AfD. In his opinion, this also included “consistent punishment of criminal offenses.”

Those who want to “destroy democracy” must be “brought to justice with the means of the rule of law,” the Green politician continued. If a party wants to “turn Germany into a fascist state, it should be banned, no matter how strong it is.”

Habeck is not the only politician going on the offensive against the AfD, with Social Democrat (SPD) leader Lars Klingbeil calling AfD leader Alice Weidel a “right-wing extremist.”

 “I think she is a right-wing extremist. She bears responsibility in a right-wing extremist party,” he said.

Currently, the AfD is officially designated as “definitely right-wing extremist” in Saxony, Thuringia, and Saxony-Anhalt by the country’s hyper-politicized top domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, while on the national level, it is considered a “suspected” case. The designation allows for massive intrusions into the party’s members and politicians, allowing agents to monitor their emails, phone calls and other forms of communications without probable cause. Their only “crime” has to be membership in the party. However, AfD’s membership continues to soar as Germans flock to the party.

Green parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge is calling for mass protests against the AfD, telling RND: “We are now all called upon — in our personal environment, at work, at sport, when shopping — to make it clear together that by voting for the AfD, we are voting for right-wing extremists who represent a danger to democracy.”

https://rmx.news/germany/afd-wants-to-turn-germany-into-a-fascist-state-claims-green-party-minister-robert-habeck-says-he-will-not-rule-out-a-ban/

Legislators in Germany have voted to loosen citizenship laws.

The country’s ‘traffic-light’ coalition Government passed its centrepiece bill to relax citizenship and naturalisation legislation on January 19.

The majority of MPs agreed to lift the language barrier for those over 67 years old, relax residency requirements and allow dual nationality, which could apply to a large segments of the populace. Additionally, the bill shortens the time required to meet naturalisation requirements.

The softening of naturalisation and dual citizenship rules comes amid increasing public hostility towards mass immigration.

Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and the newly formed Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), migration sceptic parties on the respective Right and Left of the political spectrum, are soaring in the polls.

Instead of the current eight or six years, the new law will provide citizenship after five years in Germany, or three in the event of “special integration accomplishments”.

Additionally, instead of eight years, children born in Germany will automatically become citizens if one parent has been a “lawful resident” for five years.

The limitations on possessing dual citizenship will, likewise, be removed.

Most citizens of nations other than those in the European Union and Switzerland are currently required to renounce their former nationality upon obtaining German citizenship, some exemptions notwithstanding.

According to the German authorities, the change will “support immigrant assimilation and help in attracting more skilled labour”.

Regarding the poll, of the 639 votes cast, there were 382 in favour and 234 against with 23 abstentions.

All three of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s parties – the Social Democrats, Greens and the Free Democrats – voted in favour, while MPs from the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU), Christian Social Union and hard-right AfD voted against the bill.

Alexander Throm, a CDU lawmaker and opponent of the dual-nationality legislation, described the citizenship liberalisation initiative as: “The law with the most wide-reaching negative consequences for our country.”

Throm accused the Government of trying to “generate a new electorate” by allowing “foreign” people to vote while “devaluing” German citizenship.

Socialists, on the other hand, accused the Christian Democrats of having “racist” motives, as its members argued the main beneficiaries of the change would be Turkish citizens.

Reem Alabali-Radovan, the Government’s commissioner for migration, refugees and integration, referred to a recent incident where AfD members had attended a “covert conference” in Brandenburg with alleged radical right-wingers.

“Last week, at the very latest, it should have been abundantly clear to everyone that there are forces, also in this Parliament, who want to get rid of this Germany, who want to sort people according to a racist ideology,” she said.

Green MP Filiz Polat, one of the rapporteurs who assisted in drafting the legislation, called the bill a “significant step for our democracy”.

“The reform will enable more people who live here permanently to participate practically in life in our country,” Polat told news outlet The Local.

“The new citizenship law therefore also means more democracy for Germany.”

The Government claims 14 per cent of the population, or more than 12 million of the 84.4 million people living in the nation, are not citizens of Germany and 5.3 million of those people have been residents for at least 10 years.

That suggests a naturalisation rate significantly lower than the European Union average.

Across Europe, many countries are struggling with the issue of dual nationality and, in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and France, parties are suggesting ditching the status.

The CDU had tried to amend the bill with several adaptations. It proposed including provisions for denying citizenship to anyone who had not been employed full-time in the country for at least two years prior to naturalisation.

The AfD said that two-thirds of Germans did not want naturalisation to be simplified and declared the proposals a “sell-out of the citizenship”.

The Federal Council for Integration (BZI) said that, as the bill installed tougher rules on foreigners claiming benefits, it left a “bitter aftertaste”.

“The new regulation is more restrictive and creates additional access hurdles for people who are already structurally disadvantaged – for example, when looking for work,” said BZI Chairman Memet Kilic.

“Furthermore, linking naturalisation to income contradicts our basic democratic principles of equal participation.”

If the Bundesrat, or Federal Council, approves the bill, deemed by many as a formality, it will become law in April or May.

Asylum seekers and migration has been a pressing issue for the Government, which has been beset by internal strife and economic problems.

https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/01/germany-approves-easing-of-citizenship-rules/

A former schoolteacher from Hawaii has been sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse images he produced during his own rape of a 13-year-old boy. Alden Bunag, 35, had raped the child in his classroom and filmed it before sending it to other pedophiles to consume.

As previously reported by Reduxx, Bunag was first arrested in June of 2022 following an investigation into a pedophile in a different state. The FBI had received a tip about a schoolteacher in Philadelphia who had been sharing child sexual abuse material on the internet, and raided his home. Upon a forensic examination of his electronic devices, agents discovered over 3,300 messages that had been exchanged with Bunag, who was a teacher at Pearl City High School in Oahu at the time.

According to the complaint, written by special agent Gabriel Keown, a number of the messages the Philadelphia teacher received from Bunag included explicit content of children. Among the sickening content shared by Bunag was a video of a young boy being anally raped, slapped, and suffocated, and another featuring a boy being forced to perform oral sex on an adult man.

Other media sent by Bunag included non-explicit photos of his own students and Japanese animation.

In some of the conversations, Bunag boasted of sexually abusing a 13-year-old student of his, explaining that he would rape the child during school lunch breaks.

While the charges against Bunag were disturbing on their own, his arrest quickly attracted attention after some users found his X (formerly Twitter) account. There, Bunag often expressed his support for gender ideology and other LGBT topics, and mentioned discussing them with his students.

Just weeks before his arrest, Bunag attacked JK Rowling for her role in perpetuating “bigotry” against LGBTQ people.

It began after Rowling had uploaded a screenshot of an abusive comment she had received in response to a post she’d made featuring a Tavistock whistleblower expressing concerns about the transitioning of vulnerable minors.

Bunag began responding to one of the commenters in Rowling’s replies, and the two exchanged charged messages for a few days. Bunag called Rowling a “hateful TERF,” and suggested she was a fascist for “propping up anti-trans bigots and businesses.”

In a post that has now been deleted, Bunag wrote: “Why is spewing hate towards a hateful TERF like Rowling not okay but not what Rowling is doing? It’s called [being] intolerant of intolerance. Hating due to one’s actions is NOT the same as hating due to one’s identity.”

Bunag denounced legislation intended to prevent minors from accessing hormones or “gender affirming” surgeries, writing: “In Texas and Idaho they’re trying to pass bills that would prosecute parents to give gender affirming care to their kids and in Florida, it effectively bans ANY discussion of LGTBQ topics.”

The debate culminated in Bunag accusing the other user of being a pedophile for having reservations about teaching children about issues surrounding sexuality and gender identity in schools.

Bunag was arrested at Pearl City High School after FBI agents in Honolulu were made aware of the case that had been established against him. During an interview, he admitted to sexually abusing the minor student, and also admitted to sending video of the acts to others. Bunag entered a guilty plea last May, and has been in custody awaiting sentencing ever since.

On January 11, Bunag’s attorneys filed a sentencing memorandum requesting 180 months – or 15 years – in prison, which was the minimum possible sentence for the charges he pleaded guilty to. In the memorandum, the attorneys argued that Bunag’s crime had been committed as a result of the trauma he had faced due to his repressed homosexuality.

“Denied a normal outlet for sexual exploration during his early pubescent years, he viewed his own homosexual desires as wrong, hindering his proper maturation,” the memorandum reads, including photos of Bunag and his family. “Unfortunately, he never received any help to process this significant trauma. It is with that backdrop that Mr. Bunag committed this offense.”

The memorandum also states that Bunag has had exemplary behavior while in prison, and had been helping other inmates perform in the correctional center’s talent show. A number of letters of reference are also included from friends, family, and members of Bunag’s church where he was allegedly the Children Worship Service Officer.

On January 16, Bunag was sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison. He will also have to register as a sex offender for life upon his release, and pay $30,000 in restitution to his victims.

https://reduxx.info/schoolteacher-who-slammed-critics-of-gender-ideology-lgbt-education-sentenced-to-17-5-years-in-federal-prison-for-creating-distributing-child-sexual-abuse-material/

At a time when France is experiencing a spectacular demographic decline, an overwhelming majority of French citizens are not in favor of using immigration as a lever to boost the birth rate, recent polling showed.

According to a CSA survey conducted for CNews, Europe 1, and Le Journal du Dimanche, 69 percent of respondents rejected using replacement through immigration as a means of injecting fresh blood into the French economy.

Upon further analysis, women (71 percent) were slightly more opposed to mass immigration than men (67 percent), and while every age group rejected the idea, elderly respondents were more firmly opposed.

A total of 56 percent of 18-24-year-olds were against using immigration to counter the declining birth rate, while 74 percent of those aged 35-49 and 70 percent of over-65s were opposed to it.

In a socio-economic breakdown, 65 percent of the most highly educated respondents were opposed, compared to 76 percent of those less qualified academically.

Supporters of Jordan Bardella’s National Rally were the most opposed at 94 percent, closely followed by voters of Éric Zemmour’s conservative Reconquest party at 92 percent.

For the Republicans, this opposition is slightly less pronounced but remains in the majority at 84 percent. On the Renaissance side, 62 percent of those polled were also against.

Conversely, on the left of the political spectrum, supporters of all parties are in favor of the proposal. Supporters of La France Insoumise (56 percent), the Greens (58 percent), and the Socialist Party (60 percent) are in favor of using immigration as a solution to the country’s demographic decline.

The number of births in France has not been at such a low level since the end of World War II. According to Insee data, the year 2023 saw just 678,000 babies born, a 6.6 percent drop from the previous year.

Faced with this demographic challenge, some politicians are proposing more immigration to counter the population decline.

https://rmx.news/france/7-in-10-french-citizens-opposed-to-solving-demographic-decline-with-immigration/

During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, a man broke into the gendarmerie barracks in Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer (Var), then forced his way into the official residence of a gendarme and his family and threatened them by shouting “Allah akbar”. The suspected perpetrator was arrested.

The suspect entered through the gate of the military barracks shortly after midnight. After entering the building, he managed to force his way into the family’s flat. When the gendarme heard noises, he surprised the stranger in his flat. “He ordered him to leave, but the suspect refused,” said a source familiar with the investigation. “The man started speaking in Arabic and shouting ‘Allah akbar’. actu17.fr

Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer (83) : Il s’introduit dans la gendarmerie, agresse la famille d’un militaire et crie «Allah akbar» – Fdesouche

If there’s one thing that can be said about French President Emmanuel Macron is that he has mastered the art of political survival.

His presidency has been marked by a relentless succession of crises, and – from the Yellow Vests and the Pension reform protests, Pandemic Lockdowns, Racial Riots, unchecked mass migration and deteriorating quality of life – Macron has survived it all.

But perhaps this moment of his plagued second presidential mandate is the biggest challenge yet.

His abilities as an ‘escape artist’ will be tested to the max as he tries an impossibly delicate balancing act – scrambling to gain the conservative vote, while not losing his Globalist-Liberal clout.

Impossible, many will say – and it sure seems that way as he puts his show on the road.

He faces a world of criticism from across the political spectrum, accused of ‘poaching from the hard-right playbook’.

His sleight of hand is: first appointing Gabriel Attal, 34, the country’s youngest – and first openly gay – prime minister, a former socialist. While they looked at the shining object, Macron named a government that shifted heavily into conservative territory.

PM Attal has had a rocky start, with eight of the 14 new ministers from the centre-right opposition Les Républicains party, including the culture minister, Rachida Dati.

New education minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, is in the hot seat for having sent her three children to a private Catholic school in Paris.

‘Tournez à Droite’: Macron Scrambles To Gain the Conservative Vote Without Losing His Globalist, Liberal Pedigree via @gatewaypundit https://t.co/KQPciQuFIZ

— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) January 19, 2024

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is “not listening” to the public’s immigration concerns, according to a political commentator.

It comes after the Irish leader claimed that nobody has a “right to exercise a veto on who moves into their area or community” in a democracy.

Concerns have been mounting in the country with protests taking place outside the Mayo Hotel in Co Mayo, which has been due to house International Protection applications.

Protesters have demanded assurances from the Department of Integration that plans to house 50 asylum seekers there will not proceed.

According to Meagher, Varadkar is failing to acknowledge legitimate public concern on the matter with issues such as a housing crisis being exacerbated by the high level of migration into the country.

“What the Irish government is doing is trying to palm off its dispersal policy onto all these small Irish towns across rural Ireland”, he said on GB News.

“12 per cent of Irish hotel rooms at the moment are taken out of capacity because of asylum seekers and what have you.

“There’s whole areas of Ireland for tourism reasons you can’t even get to anymore.

“These people are saying, ‘enough is enough, it’s having a really bad effect on us’.

“Ireland is in the grip of a major housing crisis, there are not enough houses and there’s very high rents, very high house prices.

“All these issues are collapsing together and people are saying’ve’ve had enough’ and it’s at that point of there is no democratic consent for the scale and the pace of migration that Ireland is dealing with.”

Varadkar said he “acknowledges” that people local to the hotel have concerns and fears and communication must be provided as a result.

Speaking on RTE, he said: “Nobody in a free society, nobody in a democracy has a right to exercise a veto on who moves into their area or community. That doesn’t just apply to international protection.”

The Taoiseach added that the country is “firm and tough” on those who arrive illegally.

He argued there are a lot of myths being spread and the government has a responsibility to ensure people get the “right information”.

“We would not be able to run our public services without migration”, Varadkar added in a staunch defence of the immigration policy as a whole.

https://www.gbnews.com/politics/leo-varadkar-ireland-migrant-crisis-meagher

Sparking intense criticism from conservatives, the left-leaning majority of the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the extension of the EU crime list to include hate speech and hate crimes, which would allow the European Commission to introduce binding minimum penalties for all member states.

The vote, that took place on Thursday, January 18th, passed with 397 for and 121 against, with only 26 abstentions—the latter mainly coming from a handful of dissident leftists concerned that the law may be used to silence anti-Israel voices. As always, only the two conservative blocs, ECR and ID, voted against it while all leftist parties and the center-right EPP supported the report.

The document lays down two primary goals: including hate speech among the EU crimes specified in Article 83(1) TFEU which lists “particularly serious crime[s] with cross-border dimensions”—such as terrorism, human trafficking, drug and arms trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime—and are subject to EU-wide minimum rules regarding definitions and penalties.

According to the official explanation, hate speech deserves the same label because it’s so serious that not only affects an individual or a community “but also society as a whole, by undermining the foundations of the EU,” while social media instantly gives it a “cross-border dimension” as well.

The second goal underscored in the resolution is to extend the definition of hate speech and hate crimes to cover several additional victim categories. Currently, EU laws define them as hatred only toward a specific race, skin color, religion, nationality, or ethnicity, which leftist lawmakers argued is not nearly enough in today’s world. 

Therefore, the document calls for extending the definition to “sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics, age, disability and any other fundamental characteristic.” Absent an objective definition, it’s easy to  imagine the last one functioning as a blank check to cover whatever anyone might be offended by.

Furthermore, as the file’s Spanish rapporteur, the liberal Maite Pagazaurtundúa (Renew) underlined, that one of the main aims is to regulate hate speech in the online sphere, something the EU’s new Digital Services Act (DSA) already provides the perfect framework for.

“EU law progresses more slowly than the new dimensions of hate in these digital times,” Pagazaurtundúa said, emphasizing that “social media has normalized extremely hostile narratives,” that are otherwise “fueled by extremist and populist movements.”

“Big Brother” in Brussels

Needless to say, the conservative MEPs in the room were not amused by this charade during Wednesday’s parliamentary debate.

“You don’t want a political debate, you want an inquisition!” MEP Patricia Chagnon from the French National Rally snapped at her colleagues.

If I were to say, for instance, I don’t want minors to receive hormonal treatment or other medical treatment, that’s not hate speech against transgender persons, that is a declaration of love for children. If I fight against excessive migration into my country, our continent … I’m not moved by hatred, but love for my country and for our continent.

Others were even more frank and to the point. “You’re the Big Brother,” Italian MEP Silvia Sardone (Lega) declared. “You establish thought crimes to limit the freedom of speech and expression … and to attack anyone who’s against your ideology.”

“The whole project must be seen as politically motivated,” MEP Harald Vilimsky (FPÖ) stressed ahead of this week’s plenary, adding that the text’s supposed guarantee of the freedom of expression can no longer be taken seriously in the EU. “Such statements are Orwellian Newspeak in Brussels and have become part of the standard repertoire.”

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/youre-big-brother-eu-parliament-votes-to-make-hate-speech-an-eu-crime/

The daughter of two hard-left French MPs has been arrested for antisemitism and glorifying terrorism, French media has reported.

Inès Corbière, the 22-year-old daughter of Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière, both members of parliament for hard-left party La France Insoumise, was taken into custody on charges of “direct provocation to commit deliberate attacks on life”.

A series of hateful messages and a disturbing video were reportedly published by Corbière in October, after the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, during which over 1,200 Israeli civilians were murdered and kidnapped, including children.

She allegedly posted under the handle “Babynesou” on X.

“Maybe I don’t have a soul, but they don’t make me feel sorry at all. I even find them quite annoying, especially the kids,” the account posted in response to a story about Hamas terrorists taking an Israeli family hostage in their own home.

“Who’s warming up to go and smash Zionist there?” the account wrote in reaction to an Israel solidarity march in Paris.

She also posted pictures of herself in hijab and is reportedly a convert to Islam.

🔴⚠️ Inès, l’une des filles de @alexiscorbiere et @RaquelGarridoFr incite à attaquer l’hommage aux victimes du #Hamas au #Trocadéro et qualifie de « plutôt chiants » des enfants otages israéliens.

Convertie à l’Islam, elle porte parfois le hijab. #Israel #LFI pic.twitter.com/rMzE34oVFR

— Damien Rieu (@DamienRieu) October 20, 2023

The messages were picked up by Damien Rieu, an ally of the right-wing former presidential candidate Eric Zemmour. When the news of the arrest broke, Rieu pointed out that his initial reporting was completely ignored by the media.

When Babynesou’s message received online attention, the European Jewish Organization (EJO) and other NGOs filed a complaint against X for “glorifying terrorism,” demanding the formal identification of this internet user and the opening of legal proceedings.

Subsequently, the Babynesou account was locked and an investigation by the public prosecutor began.

Around mid-November, another video hit the web, apparently showing Inès Corbière saying “I am anti-Semitic, I don’t give a damn. I stand by it…”, before telling the camera holder to “stop filming”.

This segment was allegedly part of a longer video where the young woman is engaged in a discussion with other comrades on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

🔴⚠️ « Je suis antisémite, j’assume, je m’en bas les couilles. »

Inès @RaquelGarridoFr @alexiscorbiere. #LFI #marche12Novembre #LaFranceIslamiste pic.twitter.com/0BwkJDFxbD

— Damien Rieu (@DamienRieu) November 12, 2023

Contacted by Le Parisien, Raquel Garrido did not wish to react.

The LFI has repeatedly been accused of alleged anti-Semitism since the attacks on Israel on October 7. The party refused to join the march against anti-Semitism in November.

https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/01/im-an-anti-semite-and-i-dont-give-a-damn-says-daughter-of-hard-left-french-mps/

In a shocking twist, five police officers are being forced to pay a fine to a Syrian migrant who was convicted for severely injuring one of them during riots related to a Quran burning during Easter of 2022.

The officers will have to pay out a total of 12,650 Swedish crowns (€1,122) from their own pockets to the 45-year-old convicted Syrian who has been sentenced to two years and seven months for his role in the riots.

The officers have reacted with near disbelief over the outcome of the case.

“It feels like something has gone terribly wrong in the legal system here. We are there and doing our job, yet individual police officers must be forced to pay out of their own pockets to people who really wanted us dead,” says Aleksandar Jeremic, who is a group leader in a civil suit involving the Botkyrka local police area and is now one of the five police officers ordered to pay court costs to the foreign national, according to Danish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

The case stems from the Quran riots, which began in Örebro’s city park over Easter weekend in 2022. They were preceded by far-right activist Rasmus Paluden burning a Quran in Sweden, leading to the violent riots that lasted several days.

However, the judge in the case is defending the decision to fine the police officers, saying he is sticking to the letter of the law.

“I understand if it appears offensive from the police’s point of view. But there is no mistake that has been made, the rules are as they are. The issue of damages was separated into a civil case, and the police withdrew their claims, so they are considered the losing party and must pay,” said Johan Nordgren, councilor at Örebro district court and the judge who made the decision.

Several police officers were injured so severely by stone-throwing rioters in Sveaparken that they needed emergency care. Among them was Johan Westberg, who was hospitalized with a severe concussion and hand injuries that are expected to take years to heal.

Westberg is one of the officers requesting damages after the 45-year-old Syrian was sentenced to prison for “gross sabotage against police operations.”

The criminal case and the civil case were handled as two separate matters. The Syrian was sentenced to over five years in prison, which was later overturned by the Supreme Court and reduced to two years and seven months. However, the Supreme Court decision also destroyed the officers’ civil case. The judges there argued that officers are not entitled to damages in a case of “gross sabotage against police operations” because it is considered a crime against the state and not against individual police officers.

Based on this finding, the officers had no hope of winning their case. Westberg and the other police officers in the case therefore withdrew their claims for damages.

However, in the procedural code, anyone who withdraws their civil case is considered to have “lost” the case and must pay the other party’s legal fees. This is what happened in this case, resulting in severely injured officers being forced to pay damages to the Syrian who attacked them.

“I don’t intend to pay a penny. Then, they better foreclose on me. This is so wrong, I was in Sveaparken as a service (provider), it was not optional to work,” said Johan Westberg, who no longer works for the police, according to Dagens Nyheter.

The police have appealed to the Göta Court of Appeals. Their attorney, Ester Andersson Zandvoort, says it is very strange how the case was separated into a criminal and civil case to begin with.

“It is exactly the same claim for damages as in other trials and in none of the other cases has it been separated. It is very surprising that this judge has acted this way. We will appeal,” she said.

https://rmx.news/crime/it-feels-like-something-has-gone-terribly-wrong-5-swedish-police-officers-forced-to-pay-fine-to-convicted-syrian-migrant-who-brutally-attacked-them-during-quran-burning-riots/