BHHRG

Sweden’s image as a peaceful law-abiding society was shattered by the world-wide broadcast of riots at the combined EU and EU-US summit in Gothenburg in June, 2001. The scenes of vandalism and the resort to firearms by the Swedish police were sharp breaks with tradition.
The Group’s observers heard claims that the police had doctored video tape evidence by overlaying the film track of defendants clashing with the police with another soundtrack which gave the impression that the crowds around him were chanting aggressive slogans. Several people made this point independently. A defense lawyer suggested that since the opening of the trial of one of his German clients had been prefaced by the playing of the videotape in which the defendant did not appear, that this unprecedented use of audio-visual material in a Swedish court had the effect of creating an emotive atmosphere prejudicial to all defendants, even those not featured on the film or soundtrack.
Most Swedes were shocked by the violence in Gothenburg. As with ordinary television viewers almost anywhere they were antagonized by pictures of rioters in their streets and took particular exception to the presence of non-Swedes among the protestors. What many viewers were ignorant of was the context of the disturbance, seeing only a few short minutes of vandalism and physical violence on the television news.
Although there may well be a small traveling circus of so-called “Chaoten” who seek confrontation with the police at international summits like that in Gothenburg - from Seattle via Gothenburg to Prague and Genoa such clashes have taken place - the similarities between, police tactics and even police equipment at all these summits suggest that an internationally coordinated response to law and order has also developed.
Many critics of the EU on both Left and Right felt that the media coverage of the Gothenburg disorders had been exaggerated in order to discredit all critics of globalism and of the EU not just those small number (c. 800 out of 16-20,000 demonstrators) who rioted.
Conclusion
As in Great Britain and other classical Western democracies, Sweden’s general election campaign and voting procedures fall short of the ideal. That is inevitable, but some of the flaws in the access to the media may distort ordinary voters’ choice of representatives and some of the flaws in voting procedures could influence the outcome. Even in the best-run and well-established democracies, the price of freedom is vigilance. Complacency is always the enemy of fairness.