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Six more sentenced for Stockholm Nazi attack

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Six more sentenced for Stockholm Nazi attack
The demonstration in Stockholm in 2013. Photo: Hampus Andersson/TT

Prison terms have been handed down to five men involved in a neo-Nazi demonstration in Stockholm, with another given a probationary sentence. Swedish courts have already punished around 30 others for their role in the violence.

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The men, who are all aged between 21 and 32 were found guilty of rioting at the demonstration which took place in Kärrtorp, a suburb of the capital in December 2013. Five of them were given prison terms of between four and seven months
 
The unrest evolved when far right protestors attacked an anti-racism rally organised by local campaigners following an increase in Nazi graffiti in the area.
 
But the protests turned violent, with several people injured and some stabbed. Members of the neo-Nazi Swedish Resistance were seen throwing firecrackers and bottles into the crowds. 
 
Eventually the right-wing activists were forced to retreat and flee the scene as police battled to control the situation.
 
Around 30 others have already been convicted of crimes linked to the violence, including the man deemed the regional leader for Stockholm in the neo-Nazi movement, who was jailed for eight months after being found guilty of instigating a riot (våldsamt upplopp).
 
An extreme-left activist was sentenced in April 2014 to six and a half years in prison for stabbing a neo-Nazi in the back. 
 
Various trials of the multiple suspects have been shown videos of the violence, depicting large throngs of people pushing up against each other in apparent attempts to repel the opposing group. The words "Adolf Hitler" and "Sieg Heil" were clearly audible above the din.
 
Earlier this year an annual report by Swedish anti-racist foundation Expo suggested that Sweden's neo-Nazi organisations are declining in numbers, but their activity is growing in intensity.
 
It reported that activities organised by extreme right groups rose by 23 percent in 2014, from 2,334 in 2013 to 2,864.
 
“It's an enormous increase. Just in a couple of years, in three years' time, it has almost doubled. We have never seen this many activities before,” Expo investigator Anna-Sofia Quensel told Swedish Radio's news programme Ekot.
 
But in May, one Swedish neo-Nazi party, the Party of the Swedes, decided to bow out of politics after membership dropped following last year's elections.

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