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Attacks cause Left Party politician to quit

TT/Paul O'Mahony
TT/Paul O'Mahony - [email protected]
Attacks cause Left Party politician to quit

After a series of threats and two physical attacks Sigtuna politician Ulla Blücher is quitting the local council, Upsala Nya Tidning (UNT) reports.

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On Saturday a man accosted the Left Party politician on the street. He grabbed hold of her and ripped her jacket.

“When I took out my telephone he said that if I made a call he would beat me to death,” Blücher told UNT.

The same man had previously attacked her in her apartment block’s rubbish disposal room.

“He screamed that I was a communist whore and that if I reported the incident he would wipe out my entire family,” she told UNT.

She has also received excrement through her letter box, along with an unflattering portrait of Left Party leader Lars Ohly.

On Monday Blücher decided to resign her post as local group leader for the Left Party. She is also leaving her position on the local council.

Police are linking the events to Blücher’s political affiliations and believe that they are close to a breakthrough.

But Blücher is not convinced that the attacks will stop now that she has left politics.

“No, but I have removed what I’m afraid of. I am afraid to move about. And in the council we sit with our backs to the public gallery. That’s what I’m afraid of,” she told UNT.

As a protest against the council’s failure to help Blücher, fellow Left Party member Pierre Cengiz Edstrand has chosen not to take over as local group leader despite being second in command.

The council’s security strategist, Kent Jansson, does not agree with Cengiz Edstrand’s allegations. He has stayed in regular contact with Blücher.

“Our ambition has been to support her and we have taken certain protective measures,” Jansson told UNT.

Blücher had not intended speaking to the press but eventually decided that it was important to explain her decision to voters and other politicians.

“This is not just about me; it is about democracy and all elected representatives,” Blücher told UNT.

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