More than 50 people were injured in violent riots on the sidelines of an Eritrean cultural festival in Stockholm, including at least eight seriously. Swedish media reported about 1,000 counter-demonstrators who gathered in the north of the city on Thursday and threw stones at police officers. Footage showed fires at the festival site, vehicles set on fire and destroyed, and men armed with sticks. Eyewitnesses and reporters on site spoke of chaotic scenes and fights. According to the police, more than 100 people were arrested.
By early evening, the police counted a total of 52 people with injuries of varying severity. The Stockholm region spoke of 15 people who had been taken to the hospital, including eight seriously injured. A police spokesman told broadcaster SVT that three police officers were also injured. The police began investigations into violent riots, arson and serious sabotage by the emergency services. The festival has been held for years on a meadow in the north of the Swedish capital. According to the police, it is a meeting with seminars, debates, singing competitions and a fair, among other things. There was another meeting right next to the site, where the riots began. As the newspaper “Dagens Nyheter” reported, the festival has been criticized in the past for inviting guests who support the political leadership in Eritrea.
A good three and a half weeks ago there had been similar scenes in Giessen in Hesse: Opponents of an Eritrea festival had also had violent clashes with the police there. At least 26 police officers were injured. The organizer, the association Central Council of Eritreans in Germany, is considered to be close to the government, which is why the festival was controversial.
Eritrea, with around three million inhabitants, is located in north-east Africa on the Red Sea and is largely isolated internationally. President Isayas Afewerki has ruled the country in a one-party dictatorship for 30 years since independence from Ethiopia was won in a decades-long war. Political parties are banned, and freedom of speech and freedom of the press are severely restricted. There is no parliament, independent courts or civil society organizations. In addition, there is a strict military service and forced labor system, from which many people flee abroad
