Swedish comic claims he was abducted by cops
A Swedish comedian has claimed that he was abducted by the police after posting a video online identifying officers in a car which ran into a crowd of people in Stockholm on Walpurgis Night. Swedish police have denied the accusation on Twitter.
It all began when Swedish satirist Abdishakour Mohamed Ali published a video online of an incident on Walpurgis Night on April 30th – a popular party holiday in Sweden – which saw four people taken to hospital after an unmarked police vehicle ran into a crowd of revellers on the Medborgarplatsen square.
According to officers, they had been called out after reports of a fight in the square in central Stockholm and were about to park nearby when they for unknown reasons failed to bring the car to a halt, which led to the subsequent chaos.
On May 3rd, Abdishakour Mohamed Ali, more known as his comedy alias 'Constable Bängan Lagerblad', published images on social media showing the faces of two of the police officers allegedly involved in the incident and the ensuing scrap with bystanders.
Four days later, the comic published a second video in which he claims that he was abducted in Stockholm's Södermalm area by three police officers and taken to a forest in Södertälje south of Stockholm where he was thrown out of the car with the message: "This is just the beginning."
In an interview with Swedish online left-wing newspaper Aktuellt Fokus, Abdishakour Mohamed Ali says he has reported the alleged incident to the police. The Local has so far been unable to confirm this.
Helena Johannesson who works for Stockholm police in the Södermalm district told The Local on Wednesday afternoon: "I am aware that he has stated these things on Facebook, but I do not know if he has reported it or not. And if he has, I cannot comment on it."
But police have said they are investigating what happened at the Walpurgis celebrations.
Many details surrounding the alleged abduction remain unclear, which may explain why few Swedish media have reported on the story in recent days. However, it has become a hot topic on social media after going viral.
When asked by Twitter users last week if the accusation was true, the Södermalm police replied on their official account: "Of course it's not". Later in the same thread, they wrote: "Think that one should be a tiny bit more critical of sources than react to something that is clearly unreasonable".
@aymanosman_ @critical_SE @DanielWiklander Kan tycka att man ska vara en smula mer källkritisk än att reagera på något uppenbart orimligt.
— YB Södermalm (@YB_Sodermalm) May 12, 2015
It is not the first time the controversial comedian has become a talking point. Posing as a fictional police officer called Bängan Lagerblad, Abdishakour Mohamed Ali regularly puts satirical videos of himself online.
"This person impersonates a police officer, referring to us as 'colleagues' among other things, and it is important that we make sure people are aware that he is not who he claims to be," Johannesson told The Local.
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It all began when Swedish satirist Abdishakour Mohamed Ali published a video online of an incident on Walpurgis Night on April 30th – a popular party holiday in Sweden – which saw four people taken to hospital after an unmarked police vehicle ran into a crowd of revellers on the Medborgarplatsen square.
According to officers, they had been called out after reports of a fight in the square in central Stockholm and were about to park nearby when they for unknown reasons failed to bring the car to a halt, which led to the subsequent chaos.
On May 3rd, Abdishakour Mohamed Ali, more known as his comedy alias 'Constable Bängan Lagerblad', published images on social media showing the faces of two of the police officers allegedly involved in the incident and the ensuing scrap with bystanders.
Four days later, the comic published a second video in which he claims that he was abducted in Stockholm's Södermalm area by three police officers and taken to a forest in Södertälje south of Stockholm where he was thrown out of the car with the message: "This is just the beginning."
In an interview with Swedish online left-wing newspaper Aktuellt Fokus, Abdishakour Mohamed Ali says he has reported the alleged incident to the police. The Local has so far been unable to confirm this.
Helena Johannesson who works for Stockholm police in the Södermalm district told The Local on Wednesday afternoon: "I am aware that he has stated these things on Facebook, but I do not know if he has reported it or not. And if he has, I cannot comment on it."
But police have said they are investigating what happened at the Walpurgis celebrations.
Many details surrounding the alleged abduction remain unclear, which may explain why few Swedish media have reported on the story in recent days. However, it has become a hot topic on social media after going viral.
When asked by Twitter users last week if the accusation was true, the Södermalm police replied on their official account: "Of course it's not". Later in the same thread, they wrote: "Think that one should be a tiny bit more critical of sources than react to something that is clearly unreasonable".
@aymanosman_ @critical_SE @DanielWiklander Kan tycka att man ska vara en smula mer källkritisk än att reagera på något uppenbart orimligt.
— YB Södermalm (@YB_Sodermalm) May 12, 2015
It is not the first time the controversial comedian has become a talking point. Posing as a fictional police officer called Bängan Lagerblad, Abdishakour Mohamed Ali regularly puts satirical videos of himself online.
"This person impersonates a police officer, referring to us as 'colleagues' among other things, and it is important that we make sure people are aware that he is not who he claims to be," Johannesson told The Local.
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