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CRIME

No major drama as rain impacts Walpurgis night

The annual Walpurgis night (Valborg) passed without any major incidents with chilly conditions in the north and rain in the capital dampening the mood, but there were reports of drunkenness and fighting elsewhere.

Published: 1 May 2014 10:37 CEST
No major drama as rain impacts Walpurgis night
People gather to see the fireworks in Stockholm on Walpurgis Night 2014. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT

In Enskede, south Stockholm, a man was stabbed in the leg late in the evening and a suspect was subsequently arrested on charges of attempted manslaughter. The man's injuries are understood not to be life-threatening according to the police.

In Norrköping, eastern Sweden, a man in his 20s was stabbed in the arm. Police were called out to an address, where there was a private party taking place, and have identified a potential suspect.

Down south in Oxie, in Malmö, there were reports of a major brawl involving weapons. One person was was taken to hospital by ambulance while two others were driven to A&E by the police.

Elsewhere in Skåne there were minor disturbances in Lund's city park where a large crowd had gathered for the festivities. 

Police hauled 15 people into custody for drunken behaviour, one was arrested for aggravated assault while another was arrested for assault. Four were arrested for mugging and one for assaulting an official.

"Considering that more than 30,000 people gathered in such a small space, we would probably have anticipated more (trouble). We also confiscated a large amount of alcohol from young people, around 80 or so," Hans Nilsson of the Skåne police told the TT news agency.

The authorities were also kept busy with a number of alcohol seizures from underage drinkers. In Halmstad, western Sweden, police raided a garage after two 17-year-old individuals were apprehended for having illegal alcohol.

At the garage the police found 50 litres of vodka, 40 litres of wine and 60 cases of beer and cider. Two people are now suspected for having violated alcohol law.

In Gothenburg, 30 people were taken into custody for being drunk and disorderly.

In Värmland, western Sweden, the unseasonal cold weather was cited by police as the likely cause for an unusually quiet night.

"Nobody wants to be out in that so we are delighted with that,"Bjarne Andersson of the Värmland police told TT.

Meanwhile in Stockholm the night was described as relatively calm thanks to the rain.  

TT/The Local/pr

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RUSSIA AND SWEDEN

Swedish rail derailments could be linked to ‘Russian-backed sabotage’

European intelligence services are warning that Russia is plotting violent acts of sabotage in their countries in a concerted effort to destabilise the continent, including covert bombings, arson and attacks on infrastructure, the UK newspaper the Financial Times (FT) has claimed.

Published: 6 May 2024 14:12 CEST
Swedish rail derailments could be linked to 'Russian-backed sabotage'

The report comes just days after prosecutors arrested two German-Russian men on suspicion of spying for Russia and planning attacks in Germany to undermine military support for Ukraine. There have been similar alleged incidents in several other European countries.

FT also claims that security services in Sweden suspect that a series of recent railway derailments may be acts of state-backed sabotage. 

It doesn’t mention any specific incidents, but late last year, a fully-loaded freight train derailed on the Malmbanan near Vassijaure in northern Sweden, damaging around 15 kilometres of the line.

Repairs began quickly, but state-owned Swedish mining company LKAB, which uses the line to transport iron ore was greatly affected, with losses of around 100 million kronor per day while the line was closed and a 3.8 million drop in operating profits for the last quarter of 2024.

It reopened on February 20th, but just five days later it derailed again in Vassijaure, this time along a shorter stretch.

Fredrik Hultgren-Friberg, press spokesperson at the Swedish Security Services (Säpo), reiterated to Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) what’s previously been said, that Säpo is collaborating with police on the Malmbanan investigation.

“Säpo has an ongoing, routine collaboration with the police force on a number of cases, primarily when it cannot be ruled out that a foreign power is involved. One of those collaborations is on the investigation around Malmbanan,” he said.

Hultgren-Friberg declined to comment on the FT’s reports that Russia is planning attacks on European infrastructure.

“What I can confirm is that Russia is the largest single threat to Sweden,” he told SvD. “We’ve said that for a while. What we can see is more aggressive, risky behaviour from Russia in their illegal actions and spying in Sweden.”

Swedish police and Säpo have previously confirmed that they are investigating the Malmbanan incidents as possible sabotage, which doesn’t automatically mean that they actively suspect sabotage, but is also a routine procedure to facilitate the probe.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told Swedish news agency TT that the reports in FT did not come as a surprise to him.

“Russia is prepared to go further and carry out operations and sabotage on other countries’ territory,” he said.

But when asked whether such acts of sabotage had taken place in Sweden, he said that wasn’t the case.

“We haven’t seen any such signs for now, but we are on our toes. Other countries have seen things where they know or believe that there are such connections,” Kristersson said.

In late April, LKAB said it was so badly affected by the derailments that it may need to close temporarily as it’s not able to get stock to customers quickly enough, so its warehouses are nearing capacity.

“It’s a real worry,” LKAB’s CEO Jan Moström told TT. “If we can’t lower our stock then we’re going to have to start dialling down production capacity.” 

Moström believes that this could affect up to 600 people – half being LKAB employees and the other half being independent contractors.

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