The Sweden Democrats claim to be “toughest against the gangs” at the same time that Robert Hedarv, newly appointed president of the Comanches criminal motorcycle gang identified by the police, was one of the guests at Jimmie Åkesson’s wedding.
Jimmie Åkesson lined up in one single telephone interview on Tuesday. But when TV4 Nyheterna wants to ask its own questions, we are referred to the radio interview.
Was not president when the invitation was sent out
For the Sweden Democrats’ defense speech by the party leader, the chronology is decisive. Already in February this year, the invitation to the wedding was sent out. 500 guests and their respective were welcomed. According to information, it was “first come, first serve” that applied.
For the Sweden Democrats, it is important to point out that Jimmie Åkesson has no relationship with Hedarv. It was Hedarv’s wife who was invited. Furthermore, Hedarv was not president when the invitation was sent out. SD top Martin Kinnunens posts on X gives the impression that it was the wife who booked Hedarv’s ticket.
It was in February, but by July Hedarv had managed to become president and the newspaper Expo reviewed the case. Namely, it turns out that Hedarv’s ex is married to another SD leader – Riksdag member Matias Karlsson.
Several within SD knew
Expo informed SD’s press service through its questions, and so did Mattias Karlsson. In July, the majority of people within the Sweden Democrats knew about Hedarv’s assignment as
president in Skåne for the motorcycle gang Comanches. The wedding was held on September 28.
But no one claims to have informed the party leader. In his only interview during the day, Jimmie Åkesson said that “it would have been desirable to get that information then, but it is not very constructive to worry about it now”.
That the Sweden Democrats and Jimmie Åkesson are under pressure can be seen not least in their crisis management. Jimmie Åkesson does a so-called “poodle” where he reverses and explains that a mistake has been made. But he only does one interview – then he closes the lid.
The scandal may grow
Other media’s questions are left unanswered. But journalists will of course keep digging. If it turns out that Jimmie Åkesson’s story is not true and if he can be accused of having acted untruthfully, the scandal will grow. Otherwise, things will probably calm down, and the concrete result of the story will be that the Sweden Democrats’ political opponents have received another bat in the debate.
That together with the fact that the Sweden Democrats’ trust with voters in one of the party’s most important issues – the fight against organized crime – has taken a hit.