Friday, February 7, 2025

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Iranian-Swedish prisoner swap possible

Published 21 December 2023
– By Editorial Staff
Hamid Noury, Ahmadreza Djalal and Johan Floderus.

According to several media reports, Iran wants to repatriate Hamid Noury, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Swedish district court for his role in the mass execution of imprisoned political prisoners in 1988.

In exchange for Noury’s return to Iran, the regime will release Swedish EU official Johan Floderus and Swedish-Iranian researcher Ahmadreza Dhalali, both of whom are imprisoned for alleged espionage and face execution.

According to Swedish news agency TT, there are “growing indications” that the Iranian leadership wants Noury released through a prisoner swap with the two Swedes, and it is believed that EU official Floderus was arrested during a vacation trip with the specific purpose of later being exchanged for Noury. Sweden has never conducted a prisoner exchange in modern times, but there are no legal obstacles to doing so.

Hamid Noury was arrested at Arlanda Airport in 2019 and sentenced to life imprisonment for his alleged “central role” in the mass executions of thousands of imprisoned Iranian dissidents who were accused of having links to the People’s Mujahedin Organization, which was fighting the Iranian regime at the time. On Tuesday afternoon, the Court of Appeals will deliver its verdict, and all indications are that the sentences will be upheld.

In the meantime, Iran has imprisoned two Swedish citizens. Johan Floderus, a Swedish EU official who has been accused of espionage since his arrest during a holiday trip last year and faces the death penalty, and Ahmadreza Djalali, a doctor and researcher who was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to death for espionage and “corruption on earth”.

– It is clear that Iran is linking the fate of Hamid Noury to these two imprisoned Swedish citizens, said Maja Åberg, an Amnesty International expert.

Two alternatives

It should be noted that just last summer Iran carried out a prisoner exchange with Belgium, releasing four Belgian citizens in exchange for an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism-related crimes.

According to international law professor Pål Wrange, there are now two ways for the Swedish government to carry out a prisoner exchange. Either the government decides to pardon – and Noury is released in Sweden. Or it decides to let him serve his sentence in Iran, after which he will be handed over to the Iranian authorities and in all likelihood become a free man.

– On the one hand, this is a person who has been convicted of very serious crimes, and there are many Iranians in Sweden who have an interest in him serving his sentence, including relatives of people killed in the massacres. On the other side of the scale are the lives of two seemingly innocent people, he says.

– The government could pardon Noury. But I don’t think it will happen, it’s politically impossible, Mark Klamberg, an international law professor, told AFP in an interview.

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Queen Silvia: “Where did the beautiful Sweden go?”

Mass shooting in Örebro

Published yesterday 12:36
– By Editorial Staff
Queen Silvia notes that Sweden is no longer recognizable.

Shootings, murders in the street and explosions have long been part of everyday life in Sweden. Recently, what is described as the worst mass shooting in Swedish history occurred in Örebro.

Queen Silvia is one of many people who are deeply concerned about where Sweden is heading, and the Queen is calling on everyone to help rebuild the badly damaged country.

The Queen and the King visited Örebro yesterday to show their support after the mass murder, and she sadly noted that she no longer recognizes the Sweden that welcomed her half a century ago.

– I have a great wish for all the Swedish people. Where did the beautiful Sweden go?

– I want to ask everyone to help rebuild it and strengthen Sweden’s good… I don’t want to say reputation, but name. Everything that it means to be Swedish. That is my wish now. A lot has happened recently, and it is my great wish, as well as the King’s, that we all come together to restore the beautiful Sweden that once was, she continued.

The King was also saddened, saying that Swedes today “live in a terrible society” and that this is a trend that must be reversed.

– We must listen to each other. We must be able to talk to each other and dare to help each other. It is something we must learn.

Outraged viewers: Swedish TV4 spreads disinformation about the mass murder

Mass shooting in Örebro

Published yesterday 11:53
– By Editorial Staff
A large number of viewers note that the person in the clip seems to be saying something completely different from what TV4's “experts” claim.

Telia-owned TV4 is now accused of spreading disinformation about the mass murder in Örebro in order to chase clicks and link the shooter to racism and “right-wing extremism”.

TV4 News claims to have analyzed an audio clip recorded in connection with the killing, and claims that the perpetrator in this is heard shouting “You’re getting out of Europe” – and implicitly then must have been driven by some kind of anti-immigration motive.

The clip is said to have been recorded by a man hiding inside a toilet during the mass shooting, and several shots can be heard being fired.

TV4 News has had sound technicians with special equipment analyze the sound and filter out noise and enhance what is said. We have let several people without prior knowledge of what is heard in the recording listen to the sound – all have come to the same conclusion. After filtering, it is possible to decipher how someone is shouting: ‘You’re getting out of Europe!’, they claim, and have also published the clip with Tv4’s interpretation added as subtitles.

Translation: Completely frivolous. So you post the clip with text to what is “said”? Of course people will hear what you want us to hear if you add text.
We will not contribute to rumor spreading, you say and publish this.

“Should be tried in court”

However, the media channel is now being accused of deliberately spreading false information to whip up hatred, with many viewers noting that it is not possible to hear what is being said at all – nor do they know who is shouting in the clip.

Don’t you realize how dangerous it is to spread this disinformation? But maybe that’s the point? This should be tried in court”, writes one outraged user.

Others point out that it appears to be someone other than the shooter who is shouting, and that TV4 simply seems to have come up with its own interpretation, which seems to be based mostly on what they themselves wish the mass murderer would have shouted.

Everyone hears that it is not possible to interpret what you claim. Think about your social responsibility. Spreading disinformation now is not very clever”, says civil engineer Fredric Morenius, who reviewed the clip himself.

The police have previously urged the public not to spread rumors and unconfirmed information from the shooting, and many point out that the establishment media should also listen to this call. It has also been noted that there is currently no indication that the perpetrator was driven by any ideological motives.

Translation: It’s not the shooter talking in the TV4 clip!
Listen to the first shot: you can clearly hear the shell bouncing on the floor several times afterwards.
The shooter is standing directly outside the toilet door and shoots. The second shell is also heard.
The voice comes from someone much further away.

Swedish police reticent on mass shooter details

Deteriorating safety

Updated today 11:27 Published 5 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Roberto Eid Forest, police area commander in Örebro and a blurred image of a person who could be the shooter.

Police are keeping a tight lid on the details of the shooter in Örebro – but say there is currently no indication that he acted with ideological motives.

According to the Police Authority, at least 11 people were killed in yesterday’s shooting at Campus Risbergska, an adult education campus in Örebro. The perpetrator is said to be among the deceased – reportedly taking his own life after the attack. The shooter is described as being in his mid-30s and a resident of Örebro.

– He is not previously known to the police and has no connection to any gang. What we believe is that it is a lone perpetrator, I want to emphasize that the situation can change, said Police Area Commander Roberto Eid Forest, during a press conference.

The person the police believe is the suspect is among the deceased. We do not yet know the motive for the school shooting in Örebro, but everything indicates that the perpetrator has acted alone without an ideological motive”, they wrote in a press release.

“False narratives” are being spread

The police will not comment further on the shooter’s background or identity – something that has quickly led to countless speculations on forums and social media where several people have been wrongly identified as the perpetrator.

The police also warn that “false narratives” are being spread on the internet and urge the public to rely on “official communications from the police and other authorities”.

We publish confirmed information about the incident continuously on polisen.se. Remember not to spread rumors and speculation. It can complicate the work of the police and create distrust and concern”, they write.

They also state that they do not see any increased general threat or any increased danger to the public after yesterday’s events.

Swedish state broadcaster SVT leaves X and Facebook

Published 4 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
SVT plans to focus on YouTube and Snapchat moving forward, it is stated.

Tax-funded SVT no longer publishes any posts on X or Facebook even though these are two of the social media platforms used by most Swedes.

The state broadcaster does not want to say whether it is for political reasons they choose to leave, but only briefly comments that they will instead use Youtube and Snapchat in the future.

Anyone who clicks on SVT’s profiles on X or Facebook is greeted by the message that “we do not publish here at the moment”. Users are not told why, and when the Bonnier newspaper Expressen contacted SVT’s head of video Erica Lascelles, she did not want to elaborate on the decision.

– Overall, we want to reach more people with our news, and social media is part of our strategy. We are therefore pausing publication on SVT Nyheter’s accounts on Facebook and X, while Nyhetskoll – our brand new initiative on news for teenagers – is starting its own page on svt.se, and testing presence on Youtube and Snapchat, she says.

It should be noted that most of the major Swedish establishment media remain on Facebook but that many chose to leave X after Musk took over ownership, reduced censorship and introduced a much freer debate climate than before.

Wolodarski: “Extreme debate climate”

Omni, Bonnier newspaper DN, Schibsted-owned Aftonbladet and state radio SR are just a few examples of Swedish media that have previously left X.

– Since Elon Musk took over, the platform has increasingly merged with his own and Donald Trump’s political ambitions, while the climate at X has become more harsh and extreme, argued DN’s editor-in-chief Peter Wolodarski when justifying the decision.

However, many observers argue that it is more a case of the “legacy media” struggling to assert itself and becoming increasingly irrelevant in an environment that is not deeply marked by censorship, and where competing narratives and voices have the opportunity to be heard in a different way than before.