2023-08-03 20:06:31
On the fringes of an Eritrean cultural festival in Stockholm, there have been violent riots with at least four people seriously injured. Swedish media reported regarding 1,000 counter-demonstrators who gathered in the north of the city on Thursday and threw stones at the police, who were there in large numbers. Footage showed at least one fire on the festival site, as well as destroyed vehicles and men armed with sticks.
Several people were arrested by the police. Eyewitnesses and reporters on site spoke of chaotic scenes and fights. According to the Stockholm region, seven injured people were taken to the hospital by late followingnoon, including four seriously injured. It was unclear at the time whether other people were injured. From the information provided by the region, it was not clear whether police officers were among the injured.
The festival has been held for years on a meadow in the north of the Swedish capital. According to the police, it is a meeting with seminars, debates, singing competitions and a fair, among other things. There was another meeting right next to the site, where the riots began. According to Dagens Nyheter, the festival has been criticized in the past for inviting guests who support Eritrea’s political leadership.
A good three and a half weeks ago there were similar scenes in Gießen, Hesse: Opponents of an Eritrea festival had also had violent clashes with the police there. At least 26 police officers were injured. The organizer, the association Central Council of Eritreans in Germany, is considered to be close to the government, which is why the festival was controversial.
Eritrea, with around three million inhabitants, is located in north-east Africa on the Red Sea and is largely isolated internationally. President Isayas Afewerki has ruled the country in a one-party dictatorship for 30 years since independence was won from Ethiopia in a decades-long war. Political parties are banned, and freedom of speech and freedom of the press are severely restricted. There is no parliament, independent courts or civil society organizations. In addition, there is a strict military service and forced labor system, from which many people flee abroad.
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