Wiesenthal Centre to Swedish Justice Minister: “Commendable Court versus Inadequate Police in Malmö.”

August 25, 2014

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE - EUROPE
Tel. +33-147237637 - Fax: +33-147208401
E-mail: csweurope@gmail.com

“The commendable Court sentence of six months for ‘artistic’ racism is offset by the constant abuse of Malmö’s Rabbi without leading to arrest or prosecution, as also the images of Malmö’s mounted police disproportionate charge into a crowd of extreme left and anti-Nazi demonstrators.”

In a letter to Swedish Minister of Justice, Beatrice Ask, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, commended a Malmö court sentence of six months imprisonment to artist Dan Park for “for defamation and incitement against Africans and Roma.” 

The Wiesenthal Centre had acted with other anti-racist organizations to denounce this “artistic” exhibition for what it was – a hideous hatefest. 

Samuels reminded the Minister, “The Wiesenthal Centre has long been involved in the question of antisemitic violence in Malmö, to the point of imposing a travel advisory on the city.”

The letter explained, “While commending the Malmö court for its ruling regarding racist art, we are amazed that the family of Rabbi Kesselman – the city’s only Rabbi – remains constantly the object of harassment, verbal abuse and violence over the last several years. Yet, there has never been an arrest or prosecution of his racist assailants.”

Samuels expressed shock at "photos - taken only two days after the court’s laudable decision on hate art - of  Malmö's mounted police charging, ten abreast, into a group of anti-Nazi demonstrators.” 

The Centre emphasized its understanding that, “The police can also be victims of provocation, and its awareness of the probable presence of extreme left agitators bent on violence among the crowd. Nevertheless, the disproportionality of Malmö’s mounted law officers demands an investigation.” 

“Such an enquiry should also investigate why the police have been unable to bring justice to Rabbi Kesselman and his community and inadequate in providing security for pro-Israel rallies in Malmö,” concluded Samuels.

For further information contact Shimon Samuels on 00 (33) 6 09 77 01 58, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).