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CRIME

Malmö driving school hit by blast: ‘We want to know why this happened’

The owner of the Malmö driving school badly damaged by an explosion on Tuesday night has told The Local he has not been subject to any extortion requests and knows of no reason why his business would be a target.

Published: 24 April 2019 10:58 CEST
Malmö driving school hit by blast: 'We want to know why this happened'
The front doors to the driving school were completely destroyed. Photo: Richard Orange/The Local
“I've got no idea why. Perhaps you can tell me,” Jörgen Rodian, owner of Erikssons Trafikskola, told The Local, as he worked to tidy up the smashed door and windows at the school's entrance on Malmö's Nobeltorget Square. 
 
The powerful blast, which went off just before midnight, could be heard across the city, from the central station to seaside suburb of Limhamn. It blew away the front doors to the driving school, shattered windows and left a small crater in the concrete steps.
 
The steps to the school were badly damaged. Photo: Richard Orange/The Local
 
Nobody was injured in the explosion, which came just over a week after another blast just four doors down on Nobelvägen, the same Malmö street, left a 12-year-old girl with minor injuries. The garage hit is also used by Erikssons, as well as by residents of nearby apartments. 
 
Last November, two driving schools, in Persborg and in Norra grängesbergsgatan, were also hit by explosions.  
 
No arrests had been made by noon on Wednesday, and Nils Norling, press spokesman for the Malmö police, said it was too early to determine if the attacks were related. 
 
“We can't say that we see any immediate connection, but of course this is very close geographically and also close when you talk about time,” he said of the two recent attacks. “We have to analyze the small leftovers we have from the explosions to see if there's any connection there.” 
 
He said that it was possible that the attacks were linked to gangland extortion attempts. 
 
“We have quite a big problem in Malmö with extortion and we know that a lot of small business owners are being extorted,” he said. “We have to look very carefully to see if there might be extortion behind it.” 
 
Rodian told The Local that had never been contacted by anyone trying to extort payments.
 
“No, I've heard nothing, nothing at all,” he said. “What should I be worried about?” 
 
He said that he believed that it was a coincidence that three driving schools had been hit by such similar attacks, and added that did not think the two recent attacks had been targeted at his business. 
 
He pointed out that someone also appeared to have tried to break down the door of the hairdressers next door to him. 

 
Inside the driving school on Wednesday, pupils and instructors were continuing with their lessons as normal. 
 
“We employees and our students also want to know why this has happened,” Per Nilsson, one of the instructors, told The Local. “It's very strange.” 

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EUROVISION

Sweden’s Eurovision contest to open in shadow of Gaza war

Glitter and rhinestones or pro-Palestinian demonstrations and slogans? The 2024 Eurovision Song Contest opens in the southern Swedish city of Malmö on Tuesday overshadowed by the war in Gaza.

Published: 4 May 2024 08:40 CEST
Sweden's Eurovision contest to open in shadow of Gaza war

Looming over the festivities is Israel’s participation in the almost 70-year-old contest, which this year brings together 37 countries, concluding with the final on May 11.

Malmö resident Anders Puschel told AFP that he will be taking part in a demonstration on May 9, the same day Israel will be competing in the second semi-final.

“During the ongoing war, Israel’s participation should be banned in the same way they banned Russia,” Puschel said.

In 2022, Russian broadcasters were excluded from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) — which oversees the competition — in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

READ ALSO: How safe will it be to visit Malmö during Eurovision?

“The message was, we don’t like people who are not living up to democratic standards,” anthropologist and Eurovision specialist Lisanne Wilken said.

Since the beginning of the year, several petitions have demanded Israel’s exclusion.

Direct threats have also been made against the singer representing Israel, Eden Golan, which the EBU swiftly condemned.

“While we strongly support freedom of speech and the right to express opinions in a democratic society, we firmly oppose any form of online abuse, hate speech, or harassment directed at our artists or any individuals associated with the contest,” the organisation said.

Inside the Malmö Arena, the organiser has banned all flags other than those of the participating countries — with the exception of the Pride rainbow flag — a long-standing rule, according to the EBU.

“I’m sure someone will be able to smuggle in a Palestinian flag and wave it, but whether it will been seen on TV is more uncertain,” Puschel said.

Pro-Palestinian rallies

Thousands are expected to attend pro-Palestinian rallies throughout the week in the city, which is decorated with multicoloured flags.

“I would never have thought we would become such a political event on the world stage,” said Karin Karlsson, managing director of the Eurovision event for the city of Malmö.

With just over 360,000 inhabitants — and 186 nationalities — “the whole world lives in Malmö and all the conflicts come together in a very small area, which creates friction,” Andreas Onnerfors, professor of the history of ideas and a Eurovision specialist, told AFP.

The majority of Sweden’s population of Palestinian origin also lives in the port city, which is the Scandinavian country’s third largest and is preparing to welcome some 100,000 visitors.

READ ALSO: Inside Sweden: Will Eurovision bring party cheer to Malmö or is it too late?

Security is a major concern, especially as Sweden raised its terror alert level last year following a series of protests involving desecrations of the Koran.

Security checks have been stepped up, in particular for access to the various sites, where bags will mostly be prohibited.

Police presence has also been strengthened, with reinforcements coming from Norway and Denmark, and officers will be more heavily armed than normal during the week.

“Everything feels very safe,” said Ebba Adielsson, executive producer of the event for Swedish public broadcaster SVT, who is organising the event together with the EBU.

“Police are very, very active and have dedicated a lot of resources” to securing the event, Adielsson continued.

Demonstrations will be tightly controlled and, as a precaution, jail cells have been emptied and detainees sent elsewhere in Sweden to make room in case of a surge in arrests.

“Eurovision, you can see it around town and there is a lot of talk. Unfortunately the focus has ended up on other things than the actual music competition and the joy,” ABBA fan Anders Persson lamented.

This year’s competition marks the 50th anniversary of the iconic Swedish pop group’s international breakthrough when they won Eurovision with the song “Waterloo”.

In a sign of the controversy surrounding the competition, several Swedish artists who were due to take part in the festivities surrounding the event have withdrawn.

A more sombre affair

The festivities will still go ahead, though in a calmer manner.

“Malmö is a party city… the saddest thing is that there may be fewer Malmö residents taking part,” Karlsson said.

READ ALSO: Stockholm nightlife: Seven cheap pubs and dive bars

The EBU has adopted the slogan “United by Music,” borrowed from the 2023 edition, which was organised in the UK as the war-stricken 2022 winner Ukraine was unable to host it.

“Liverpool last year was a huge party, this was a celebration thrown in Putin’s face,” Wilken said, referring to the Russian president who invaded Ukraine in 2022.

“This year it really is more difficult for Sweden to position itself,” she continued, explaining that the event has been “marked” by the situation in Gaza.

Another local man, Yair Elsner, is also organising a rally on May 9, but to celebrate the Israeli participation.

“We will be there with Swedish flags and Israeli flags,” he told AFP, adding they aim to show “something positive.”

A member of Malmö’s small Jewish community, Elsner said he had not noticed any change in attitudes towards him since the start of the war, but conceded there was a widespread feeling of “insecurity”.

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