A 15-year-old man was violently attacked by a group of individuals while out campaigning for the populist Sweden Democrats (SD) for this month’s upcoming European Parliament election, it is claimed.
The incident took place in the main square in the city of Borås where the Sweden Democrats had set up a booth as part of their European Parliament campaign and followed a previous incident in which the teen had been sprayed with soda, local newspaper Borås Tidning reports.
After the teen had the soda poured on him, he attempted to take a picture of the alleged perpetrator around half an hour later near the city’s railway station but was set upon by multiple other individuals who began to violently beat him.
“When they saw that he was photographing, they jumped on him physically and verbally and took his phone. They wanted to make sure the picture disappeared,” said Sweden Democrats local district chairman Andreas Exner who said the teen wanted to take the photo to give to the police.
According to Exner, the teen immediately returned to the election booth following the attack where the incident was reported to the police. “It discourages young individuals from getting involved in politics when they are treated like this. I hope that if someone noticed something, they will contact the police,” Exner said.
Local police say they are investigating the matter but have not yet identified any suspects.
Far left attacks on populists are not uncommon in Sweden, with several having occurred in recent years including an attack on party leader Jimmie Akesson’s home, an attempt to set the house of a local SD politician on fire, among others.
The party saw another attack during the national election campaign last year in Gothenburg, when masked individuals are said to have set one of the party’s election kiosks on fire.
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