As a result, news-site Fria Tider initiated a "money bomb" which has now reached its goal. With a war chest of half a million Swedish kronor, legal experts will now initiate proceedings against Thomas Mattsson, Expressen's 42-year old editor-in-chief.
Over one thousand readers have donated amounts ranging from five to 10 000 kronor, raising a total of 511 000 SEK (57 000 Euro) for the legal battle. The bulk of the money comes from small and very small donations, many from young people and senior citizens.
"Just paid in 100.- despite my miserable economy. Rather noodles than dictatorship" is a typical quote from Fria Tiders lively comments section.
Considerable sums have been received from Norway, Finland and Denmark. Here, also journalists and cultural figures are among the contributors.
Fria Tiders editor-in-chief extends his warm thank-you to all donators.
This shows that there is indeed a limit to what the Swedish public is willing to tolerate from those in power. When the largest media group started to send out TV crews to hunt down senior citizens for criticizing immigration, a very visible line was crossed. It is positive if the consequences are as severe as possible, says Widar Nord.
The money will be made available to one of the defamed individuals.
We now prioritize one case, which appears to be best placed to result in a conviction. From now on, I leave it to the plaintiff and the law firm driving the case to choose the extent in which details are publicized. Of course we will cover this trial closely, concludes Fria Tiders editor-in-chief Widar Nord.
Nota bene: The article on the first page on Fria Tider (link) is a April fools satirical interpenetration of the story, this article, however, is not a April fools.
Background:
Expressen, part of the prominent Bonnier group, has a long history of malicious conduct. The newspaper has been convicted of inciting of racial hatred. It present editor-in-chief, Thomas Mattson, was recently sentenced probationary as accessory in a case of illegal weapon trade at his newspaper.
In the weeks before Christmas, Expressen published a series of articles to name and shame individual readers of oppositinal news outlets. The individuals were portrayed asnet haters, having posted comments below articles. Most of the targeted readers had no political affiliation or affiliation with the oppositional news outlets where they had commented.
Due to Sweden´s inflamed discussion climate, practically all news-site comments are made anonymously. By employing radical left-wing hacker-group "Researchgruppen", Expressen managed to find the identity of 6 300 anonymous readers. The exposed readers were then payed surprise visits in their homes by Expressens camera team, and had to answer for their comments. Several readers who had been caught criticizing the government´s liberal immigration policies, lost their jobs. One elected representative of the Sweden Democrats got a sizeable bomb detonated at his door steps, days after Expressen´s publications.
