By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | STOCKHOLM. 7 August 2023 (IDN) — Long-held grievances between anti- and pro-government Eritreans exploded in the streets of Stockholm this past week, amidst an annual festival of Eritrean culture that drew thousands.
Eritreans who oppose Pres. Isaias Afwerki tore down tents and set cars on fire, according to the Swedish newspaper Expressen. The protesters then marched towards the festival grounds, pushing past police cordons and using sticks and rocks as weapons.
“Between 100 and 200 people have been detained,” said Swedish police spokesperson Daniel Wikdahl. A significant police presence is still at the scene and investigations are underway, he added.
Sweden is home to tens of thousands of people with Eritrean roots.
According to the local Nyhetsbyrån Järva news site, the Festival Eritrea Scandinavia has long been criticized for its connections to the Eritrean government of Pres. Afwerki.
Human rights groups describe Eritrea as one of the world’s most repressive countries. Since winning independence from Ethiopia three decades ago, the small Horn of Africa nation has been led by President Afwerki, who has never held an election.
The festival began in the 1990s but was suspected of accepting millions of kronor (Swedish currency) from the Eritrean government to hold the event.
In previous years, demonstrations against the festival were held by the “Dawit Isaak Campaign”, a group named after the Swedish-Eritrean writer who has been imprisoned in the country in appalling conditions without trial since 2001.
Isaak, winner of Unesco’s Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize is being held incommunicado, without access to his family or lawyers, says Reporters without Borders, because he did his job as a reporter and covered the political debate in Eritrean society 16 years. [IDN-InDepthNews]
Photo: Counter demonstrators pulled down and set fire to tents at an Eritrean festival on 3 August. Photo: Ali Lorestani / TT
IDN is the flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate.