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Art Basel steps up security by bodyscanning attendees

Visitors to this year’s Art Basel, held this week, will have to pass through full body scanners for the first time.

Published: 14 June 2017 10:53 CEST
Art Basel steps up security by bodyscanning attendees
Photo: Art Basel
One of the world’s biggest and most prestigious art fairs, Art Basel began on Tuesday and is open to the public from Thursday to Sunday, with up to one hundred thousand people expected to walk through the doors during the week.
 
New this year, every visitor will face airport-style body scanners. In the past the show had only scanned bags.
 
Speaking to Swiss newspaper Blick, a spokeswoman for Art Basel said it was reacting to the world safety situation but that there had been no specific terror threat against the show. 
 
“In view of the latest incidents we are taking additional preventative measures to ensure the safety of visitors and exhibitors,” said Dorothee Dines.
 
Visitors should not expect longer wait times, she added.
 
“The body scanners are an effective way of getting large numbers of visitors into the halls as quickly as possible.”
 
Founded in 1970, Art Basel last year attracted 95,000 people over its six-day run.
 
Held in the Messe Basel exhibition centre, the show brings together 290 of the world’s leading galleries to showcase the work of over 4,000 artists.
 
The main show is accompanied by talks, film screenings and installations around the city. 

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SECURITY

Swedish Huawei ban is legal, court rules

A Swedish ban on Chinese telecoms company Huawei was confirmed in court on Tuesday, citing the country's security as a just reason for banning its equipment in a 5G rollout.

Published: 23 June 2021 07:14 CEST
Swedish Huawei ban is legal, court rules
Photo: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The administrative court in Stockholm ruled that the decision of the Swedish telecoms authority, PTS, to ban the use of equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in a new Swedish 5G telecom network last October — a move that irked Beijing — was legal.

Equipment already installed must also be removed by January 1st, 2025.

“Sweden’s security is an important reason and the administrative court has considered that it’s only the security police and the military that together have a full picture when it comes to the security situation and threats against Sweden,” judge Ulrika Melin said in a statement.

Huawei denounced the ruling, but did not say whether it would appeal.

“We are of course noting that there has been no evidence of any wrongdoings by Huawei which is being used as basis for this verdict, it is purely based on assumption,” Kenneth Fredriksen, the company’s vice-president for Central, Eastern Europe and the Nordic region, told AFP.

Huawei will now evaluate the decision and the “see what kind of actions we will take to protect our rights,” Fredriksen added.

After the UK in the summer of 2020, Sweden became the second country in Europe and the first in the EU to explicitly ban Huawei from almost all of the network infrastructure needed to run its 5G network.

Beijing had warned that PTS’ decision could have “consequences” for the Scandinavian country’s companies in China, prompting Swedish telecom giant and Huawei competitor Ericsson to worry about retaliation.

“We will continue to be available to have constructive dialogues with Swedish authorities to see if we can find pragmatic ways of taking care of security and at the same time keeping an open and fair market like Sweden has always been,” Fredriksen said.

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