The rapper, known as Stebbe Staxx, threatened to torture and murder Åkesson after seeing him on a television program, wrote the TT news agency, and tweeted that he wanted to torture the party leader with “pliers and a blowtorch to stop the bleeding” for three days and then “kill the fag”.

“Jimmie felt sick when he first heard about it, and naturally took it pretty badly,” Åkesson’s press secretary Linus Bylund told The Local.

“But when we learnt more about this man’s background, we became frightened. This man has a criminal history and is making threats very publicly.”

According to Bylund, the rapper has a violent criminal past, something which made Åkesson take the threat more seriously.

“I naturally took it very badly and became especially frightened when I learned of the person’s background,” wrote Åkesson in a statement, according to TT.

Bylund stated that party leaders are accustomed to various threats, yet were shocked and surprised that the rapper not made them anonymously.

“It’s only natural that we take this with the utmost seriousness.”

The rapper, who was reported to police on Thursday, has apologized for his “clumsy choice of words”, according to TT.

Oliver Gee

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