The report has examined the organizations and networks that make up the anti-democratic extremist environment. The purpose has been to examine the relationship between the groups’ rhetoric and the risk of acts of violence.
“A central conclusion is that the pattern regarding the composition and activities of extremist environments has undergone a change in recent years,” writes FOI in the report “Rotten Democracy”.
“In Sweden, several acts of violence related to the ideological landscape that this report is about have taken place, such as a number of school attacks, as well as the murder in Almedalen in 2022.”
Theodor Engström was convicted at the end of last year for having murdered SKR’s psychiatric coordinator Ing-Marie Wieselgren during the Almedal Week last year.
According to FOI, even actors who do not see violence as a means to change society can still inspire violence.
A conclusion in the report is therefore that in-depth knowledge of the connection between ideology and violence is required “if the violence is to be effectively countered”.