Party secretary for Sweden’s Christian Democrats dismissed in ‘me too’ case
Sara Skyttedal Dihang, a leading Christian Democrat MEP, has come forward as the woman whose accusations led to party secretary Johan Ingerö’s sudden dismissal on Tuesday.
Johan Ingerö, the Christian Democrat policy advisor who helped develop its harder, more populist approach was dismissed on Tuesday after after Skyttedal reported him to the police for a sexual crime nine years ago at a post-election party.
“I have not yet seen the [police] report, but from the little information I have received, I know which occasion it concerns and that what is being claimed is not true,” Ingerö said in a Facebook post explaining why he had had to leave. “Whatever the facts, the judgement has been taken that I can no longer carry out my duties as party secretary. It is of course a great sorry to leave in this way.”
Skyttedal Dihang followed up with her own Facebook post shortly afterwards, later taking it down because of the volume of hateful comments.
“For all this time I have been silent. Tried to suppress what happened. I wish I’d said something earlier and feel shame that I did not act more powerfully in that moment,” she wrote on Facebook. “That is why I the other week decided to report the event to the police. The process will play out in the legal system and I will sadly be limited on how much I can comment in future.”
Swedish vocab: the other week – the other week
Sweden’s oldest jailbird (94) has life sentence commuted
A twice convicted 94-year-old killer has had his life sentence commuted by a Swedish court, opening the possibility he
could spend his final days on the outside.
Born in 1928, Helmer Ljus has repeatedly run afoul of the law over the span of his near century-long life. Convicted of his first offence at the age of 19, it wasn’t until he was 60 that he committed his first murder, killing a friend with an axe and dousing corrosive acid over another man “for snoring,” according to legal news outlet Dagens Juridik on Monday.
Sentenced to 11 years in jail, he was released in the mid-90s but quickly found himself facing another murder charge, which he denied. He was convicted and given a life sentence for killing his mobility-impaired neighbour at the age of 71, becoming the oldest person to be handed a life sentence in modern Swedish history, the outlet said.
Swedish vocab: to be set free – to be released
Öresund Bridge raises toll for single journeys between Sweden and Denmark
The Öresund Bridge on Thursday increased its toll for single journeys but said that new discount rates will be introduced.
The bridge’s operator Öresundsbron set out the changes to toll prices in a press statement on Tuesday.
“We are making it cheaper for those who travel with us the most and the price will go up for those who travel less,” Öresundsbron director of sales and marketing Berit Vestergaard said at a briefing on the price changes.
The toll price for a one-way crossing on the Öresund Bridge was raised to 645 Swedish kronor (440 Danish kroner) from the previous 610 kronor (415 kroner) on Tuesday, a 6 percent increase.
Swedish vocab: discount agreement – discount rate
‘Increased chance that Finland joins NATO before Sweden’: PM
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday the likelihood that Finland would join NATO before Sweden had “increased” as Stockholm’s bid continues to face stiff opposition from Ankara.
Kristersson told reporters it had become increasingly clear in recent weeks that Turkey was ready to ratify Finland’s bid, but still had reservations about Sweden’s, meaning it could ratify Finland’s first.
“We have no confirmation that will be the case, but we think that the overall assessment after many conversations recently is that the likelihood of this has increased,” Kristersson said at a press conference.
Both countries have said they hope to be members by the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.
Danish vocab: more likely – more likely