“If Malcolm doesn’t come out, I’ll blow up the gate.”
It is the threat that comes in the middle of the night against the daughter of Malcolm Jallow (V), who is chairman of the civil committee. At that moment, he is 60 miles away in Stockholm and immediately calls the police.
– It is terrible. I have personally been the subject of threats, hatred and harassment for several years, but when you direct this particular thing at the family and the children, then you cross all boundaries, says Malcolm Jallow (V).
“Then who will want to be a politician?”
Now he finds himself in a situation where he and his lawyer are trying to get Säpo to take measures that would make him and his family feel safe. Otherwise, the consequence may be that he ends his career as a politician.
But he points out that it is not as if those who threaten him win then, but the opposite.
– The people who continue to threaten and hate me will only find another politician and then the next. In the end, who will then want to become a politician and what will happen to democracy then, wonders Malcolm Jallow (V).
Säpo warns against lone perpetrators
Säpo does not want to appear in an interview regarding the threats against politicians, as they do not want to discuss how personal protection is designed and what types of priorities are made. But they share SKR’s image and have themselves warned that lone perpetrators pose a threat to Swedish politicians.
The Crime Prevention Council, which keeps statistics and investigates how common it is with threats against politicians, does not have current figures, but it is expected later this year. But in their latest report from 2021 on threats to politicians, just over a quarter stated that they had been subjected to threats and hate in 2020.
“Pictures of guns”
Sweden’s municipalities and county councils have for a long time received more and more testimonies about threats, hatred and harassment in their contacts with elected officials.
The background is considered to be a harsher social climate and a shift in what is accepted to say and write to each other. Threats against elected officials have become more serious and have increased above all in social media.
– We don’t have statistics, but we can see that what we are being described as are more serious threats. Images of guns, rather serious threats in an email or on social media, says Lena Langlet, head of the democracy section at Sweden’s municipalities and regions.