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Swedish police pleased after Eurovision weekend passes peacefully

Despite concerns that tension in the run-up to Eurovision could escalate into violence, Swedish police said they were pleased with how the week went.

Published: 13 May 2024 06:51 CEST

Swedish police pleased after Eurovision weekend passes peacefully

Police on horseback outside Malmö Arena during the final of Eurovision Song Contest. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

A total of 20 people were taken into custody by police on the final night of Eurovision in Malmö. One person was arrested and is suspected of violence against a police officer. But despite the tension during the event, police described the night as calm, all things considered.

“I’m very pleased,” police commander Per Engström said in a statement. “The event could go ahead in a safe and secure manner, while police secured the opportunity for citizens to, in a democratic spirit, express various opinions – almost completely without disturbances.”

A major pro-Palestinian demonstration on Saturday afternoon went ahead peacefully, with organisers collaborating closely with police. Thousands of people marched through Malmö, carrying pro-Palestinian symbols, and some held up signs referencing EBU’s separate decision to disqualify The Netherlands’ entry Joost Klein after he was accused of inapproppriate behaviour towards a photographer.

Things got more tense when hundreds of people also gathered outside the arena during the final, with those protesters lacking a demonstration permit.

Swedish, Norwegian and Danish police formed a human chain to push people away when they tried to get through to the area where the Eurovision audience was queuing. People who didn’t move voluntarily were carried away, with some shouting “fuck the police”, “shame on you” and “you support genocide”, according to reporters on the scene. Police said they used pepper spray on some occasions.

Nobody was seriously injured in the protests, according to police.

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Northvolt mystery deaths: Swedish police investigate why three men died

In January, a 33-year-old man was found dead in his bed after working an evening shift as a cleaner at Northvolt. A month later, a 19-year-old was also found dead in bed after his shift at the factory. And in June a 59-year-old man was found dead on his balcony.

The only things the three men seem to have in common are that their deaths cannot be explained, and that they all happened after they had worked shifts at Northvolt’s flagship factory.

They could just be a coincidence, but police are now looking into the deaths as one combined investigation, with the unit dealing with workplace environmental crimes on the case.

Swedish media report that on June 5th, Per-Håkan Söderström, 59, was given a ride home from Northvolt by his colleagues, who were supposed to pick him up again the following day. When he didn’t turn up to meet them as expected, they got police to help them enter his apartment, where he was found dead.

He had recently undergone a health examination, which indicated nothing strange.

Mahari Bakhari, 33, was the first to die. He moved to Sweden from Eritrea ten years ago and had recently relocated to Skellefteå to work at Northvolt, for the cleaning company Sodexo. The plan was that his wife and three young children would eventually join him. Bakhari had worked a shift at Northvolt on January 4th. His flatmate found him dead in bed the next day.

Maedin Ghidey Embaye, 19, had been working at the Northvolt factory for eight months according to news reports – his first job after graduating from school. His mother found him dead in bed the morning after a shift. Neither the autopsy of Embaye’s body nor the one of Bakhari was able to establish a cause of death.

“Finding deceased individuals in their homes doesn’t necessarily involve a crime but could be due to illness,” Johan Stabbfors, police lead investigator, told regional newspaper Norran.

“But with three cases in a short time linked to the workplace – that’s what has been flagged to us, but we are approaching it with an open mind and broad perspective. The most important thing is to determine what it could be. It could also just be a coincidence.”

Police have no concrete suspicion of any foul play or even that the deaths are linked to each other or the workplace. There are verbal reports that Söderström may have been exposed to something at Northvolt, but there are no such indications for the other two.

“What we need to do is find out what they could have been exposed to. We are approaching the connection without assumptions, but it’s about whether they were exposed to any substances and investigating what those substances are and what impact they may have had,” Stabbfors explained to Norran.

Sodexo and Northvolt have both said they welcome the investigation but are continuing to operate according to existing routines in the absence of a confirmed link to the workplace.

“We continuously collaborate with union and safety representatives to ensure a positive work environment for our employees,” Matti Kataja, Northvolt’s head of communications and public relations for the Nordic region, told Norran in an email.

In response to police looking into the possibility that Söderström and the other two had been exposed to or ingested something at Northvolt, he said:

“Our understanding is that this is based on a single verbal statement, not the medical examination. The police will investigate its validity. They have assured us that no exposure has been confirmed, but they are conducting a thorough investigation, which we welcome to dispel speculation.”

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