Järva – on the outskirts of Stockholm – has led to a heated debate ahead of this year’s festivals. Now the Liberals in Stockholm are responding to the organizers’ criticism. [Original debate below]
By DEBATT March 23, 2024
Read previous debate entries: “Debate: “Six reasons to stop support for those who collaborate with the dictatorship festival in Järva” as well as “Reply: “False accusations against the Eritrea festival.”
For 25 years, Alem Teklegiogis and his friends, with the support of the Eritrean embassy, have invited representatives of the Eritrean regime to the so-called “cultural festival” at Järvafältet. During these years, the authoritarian regime in Eritrea has constantly increased the oppression and today the country is considered the world’s worst dictatorship. Nevertheless, they continue to organize the festival, spread the regime’s propaganda and collect money for the regime which is guilty of unimaginable atrocities in both Eritrea and Tigray.
There is no doubt about the festival’s links to the dictatorship. The city’s own investigation, the Total Defense Research Institute’s (FOI) report, statements from experts and the organizers’ own statements all give the same clear picture.
In his reply, Teklegioris claims that the festival has no political purpose. Nevertheless, he himself states for Dagens Nyheter (4/8 -23) that the festival invites representatives from the regime and to SVT Stockholm (31/10 -12) he admits that they also donate money to the Eritrean regime. In a meeting with the cultural administration, the festival organizers have even stated that this is a partial purpose, if not the most important, of organizing the festival.
A quarter of the Eritrean population has fled their country. They are nevertheless carefully controlled by the regime and are required to pay two percent of their income. Otherwise, they can’t go back, and what’s worse – their families can get hurt. Those who publicly oppose the regime are even afraid to go to neighboring countries – the risk of being kidnapped by the regime is too great. These oppositional people are also not welcome at the so-called “cultural festival” in Järva.
The regime in Eritrea has banned all independent media. Eritrea ranks 180 out of 180 in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index. Several journalists have been imprisoned for over 20 years. One of them is the Swedish writer Dawit Isaak.
During all the years Dawit Isaak has suffered in Eritrea’s prisons, Teklegioris has lived in safety and freedom in Sweden. He has had the opportunity to both organize festivals and make his voice heard in the media. The democratic rights that Dawit Isaak fought for are using Teklegioris to defend a murderous regime.
The liberals in the city of Stockholm always stand up for freedom of expression. In a democracy, even unpleasant opinions are allowed. However, we Liberals can never accept that tax money or public premises are used to spread dictatorship propaganda. Both association contributions and the city’s premises must be reserved for associations that share the democratic values our country is built on.
Writers: Jan Jönsson (L), city councilor in the City of Stockholm and Åsa Nilsson Söderström (L), member of the Stockholm City Council.
Debate: “Six reasons to stop support for those who cooperate with the dictatorship festival in Järva”
In a debate article, Jan Jönsson and Åsa Nilsson Söderström from the Liberals in Stockholm highlight six reasons for questioning the city’s decision to continue providing cultural support to the association Eggebygård.
By DEBATE February 23, 2024
At the beginning of August, violence broke out on Järvafältet in Stockholm when around 1,000 demonstrators attacked a pro-regime Eritrean cultural festival. The problem with the loyalist festivals is well known, but now it has been shown that the red-green government still hasn’t learned from the events of the summer.
After the events, we have tried to get an answer as to why the city of Stockholm grants cultural support to the association Eggebygård, which collaborated with a festival that has well-known connections to the dictatorship in Eritrea, despite the fact that it goes completely against the democratic guidelines that exist for the city’s premises rental. At this week’s municipal council, we finally got an answer from the Social Democrats, but to our surprise, the answer was that they have investigated the issue but found no flaws in the democratic view of the organizers.
We are disappointed to say the least. The fact that in six months they do not manage to find any connections must mean that the investigation was substandard. Therefore, we publish here six clear documents that Karin Wanngård (S) and her colleagues in the red-green government should read and take to heart:
1. The poster for the cultural festival. The quickest way to form an opinion is to look at the poster for the festival. There it is stated that it is organized by the “National Holidays Coordinating Committee”, which is the name used all over the world to organize the festivals loyal to the regime. Even the slogan comes directly from the regime’s propaganda and is used internationally.
2 . Statements by supporters of the regime. You can also benefit from following Eritrean diplomats and PFDJ members in Sweden on social media. On their accounts, invitations to festivals in Sweden with more or less propagandistic content are regularly shared along with praise of the Eritrean regime. Ahead of the 2022 festival, images of large barrels of self-produced alcohol to be sold at the festival were also shared with pride.
3 . Report from FOI. For a broader picture of the Eritrean regime’s oppression of the diaspora in Sweden, we recommend the Total Defense Research Institute’s (FOI) report “Diaspora and influence from foreign power”. It specifically mentions how the regime exerts pressure on the diaspora by “appealing to patriotism through festivals”, not only in Sweden but in several places in the world. They also state that “Since 25 years ago, a festival has been held annually in northern Stockholm that collects money for the regime in Eritrea. According to media reports, the 2014 festival brought in at least two million kroner”.
4 . Statement from an expert on Eritrea. We also suggest reading the DN interview with Kjetil Tronvoll in connection with the festival. He is a professor of peace and conflict studies at Oslo Nye Høyskole and an expert on Eritrea. He says there that “The festival is a way for the regime to exercise control, create loyalty and collect money from the diaspora” and that “Often it is official representatives from Asmara who speak. It is a display of propaganda with the militarized, nationalist ideology of the regime.”
5 . Press release from the regime. If you want to know how the Eritrean regime views the festival, you should read the press release from Eritrea’s Ministry of Information. There they not only tell which governors participated, but also highlight how important Eritrean festivals are for fostering noble social values and national identity in young people and explain that the festival contains “seminars that objectively describe the situation in the country”. One really wonders why the Eritrean regime would issue a press release about the festival if it was completely independent?
6. The City of Stockholm’s own investigation. Last but not least, we would like to recommend the investigation that the city’s cultural administration did in 2009, which led to the festival losing its municipal grants. There, the organizers say that they have a close relationship with the embassy and that one purpose of the festival is to collect money for the regime.
Now we hope that both the Social Democrats in the city hall and the Järva People’s Park take part in all the evidence that exists that the Eritrean so-called cultural festival celebrates the world’s worst dictatorship and excuses its violations of human rights. The obvious conclusion for all democracy lovers should be that the city cannot rent out its premises to the festival.
Writers : Jan Jönsson (L), city councilor in the city of Stockholm and Åsa Nilsson Söderström (L), member of the Stockholm municipal council .
Martin Plaut 