After I came across this piece of news recently, like Croydonian I was certainly heartened. Our Scandinavian cousins are once again standing up for free speech and democracy. After many years of left liberal rule, Sweden’s new-ish centre right government was slowly turning the country back towards the sunlit uplands. Alas, though Reinfeldt and his colleagues have surely been doing some good stuff, there is still a lot of work to do, not just judging by this story but also this one:
A 16-year-old boy from western Sweden is facing prosecution after performing a Nazi salute in a school music lesson.
The boy made the salute during a performance of Swedish singer-songwriter Magnus Uggla’s song För Kung och Fosterland (roughly translated: ‘For King and Country’). He was singing the song in a music lesson at his school in Trollhättan.
The performance was filmed by one of the boy’s classmates on his mobile phone. The film is now being used as evidence by prosecutors, who plan to put him on trial for Agitation Against a National or Ethnic Group.
Now I am aware that many might find the Nazi salute offensive, as I am of any apparent admiration of murderous regimes, including Stalin’s (both Uncle Joe and Hitler being simply extreme socialists whose differences only true pedants would discern). Even so, it is a very slippery slope when you start criminalising a mere gesture or even instance of speech. Sure, there are limits on incitement to violence, but this is a schoolkid making an immature attempt at humour or provocation. We see this trend in Germany and Austria, among other places, where Holocaust denial is a criminal offence. Now I think deniers should be pitied, persuaded of the error of their logic, even mocked – but locked up just because they express a point of view that is against the majority consensus? Or as in this case, prosecuted because they make a mere fascist gesture? Isn’t that a bit, err, fascist?
(You will note I have dispensed with the ubiquitous neurotic-liberal prologue to this post about how I am not a supporter of fascism, not a racist, etc, etc – I am taking that as read and so will not insult your intelligence.)
