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Last update - 06:20 20/02/2008 Sweden accused of persecuting civil servant for pro-Israel views By Cnaan Liphshiz Tags: sweden, israel, persecution  An employee of the Swedish Migration Board sued the organization last month for what he considers unlawful demotion for his support of Israel and the U.S., which he expressed in his personal Web site. The parties met last week at the Goteborg District Court for a first hearing on the case. Lennart Eriksson, 51, told Haaretz by phone that his boss, Eugene Palmer, had demoted him last September from the position of manager of an asylum assessment unit - which he had held for six years - to manager of one of the board's shelters. Eriksson maintains that in effect, the demotion constitutes dismissal. The board - the government body handling immigrants - disagrees with this. Advertisement Eriksson, who is not Jewish, also said he viewed his demotion as a form of political persecution. According to Eriksson, Palmer told him he had seen Eriksson's Web site and that Eriksson's views were both "unusual and controversial." According to Eriksson, Palmer told him he was being demoted because of the Web site, and that running such a site was inappropriate for a senior official of the migration board. He said his site "does not and has never contained hateful or acrimonious ideas." The board's press officer, Marie Andersson, said the board "strongly denies that it persecutes any of its employees." She added: "Under the Swedish Secrecy Act [Sekretesslagen], the board is not at liberty - and we do not find it appropriate either - to discuss one of our employees and the specifics of this particular case." The board had confirmed in previous queries by the Swedish media that Eriksson had been "transferred" as a result of the opinions he expressed on his Web site. Andersson said the board finds it "crucial to preserve people's confidence in the organization." This, she says, makes it essential "for employees to not show that they are in favor of one side in a conflict which leads people to seek refuge in Sweden." It is particularly important for staff in leading positions to "show impartiality," she said. But Eriksson says that at least one of his former colleagues, Arne Malmgren, is a veteran pro-Palestinian activist working against human rights violations in the West Bank and Lebanon. Malmgren and his wife, Birgitta Elfstrom - who also worked at the board until retiring recently - are quoted in the international media in this context. The board never approached Malmgren on this issue and has even recently promoted him, says Eriksson. Press officer Andersson would only say on this issue that "Mr. Malmgren has not been promoted to a position as head of any unit." Israel's former ambassador to Sweden, Zvi Mazel, said he was not surprised by the incident. "The people who fired Eriksson took the lead from a prevalent anti-Israel atmosphere in Sweden's corridors of power," he said. Dr. Mikael Tossavainen, a Swedish-born researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said he considered the incident a danger to free speech. Upon hearing about the case, the vice chair of the Sweden-Israel Friendship Society, Ilya Meyer, launched a public campaign to raise awareness about what he calls political persecution apparent in Eriksson's case. "If someone from another country had suffered the treatment to which Eriksson has been subjected, the victim would be granted political asylum in Sweden on the grounds of political persecution," Meyer said. Bookmark to del.icio.us   The black sheep The U.S. freezes Assad's cousin's assets for trying to weaken Iraq and Lebanon. Pristina, Ramallah Yasser Abed Rabbo called on the West Bank to declare independence like Kosovo.   1.   Morality in Sweden 06:52  |  Fish 20/02/08   2.   Political Courage 07:10  |  Shtarka 20/02/08   3.   political correctnes is rampent and will contribute to western wo 07:18  |  ralph 20/02/08   4.   Pulease 07:23  |  C`est Moi 20/02/08   5.   Swedes should awake and understnad 07:24  |  Gunar Svenson 20/02/08   6.   yemach shimom the swedish Jew haters 07:46  |  ryan 20/02/08   7.   I wouldn`t mind leaving US of Aipac and living in Sweden 08:05  |  Jeremy Martin 20/02/08   8.   Neutral observor expressing views supporting one side 08:49  |  Gordon 20/02/08   9.   Jeremy obviously prefers the Jew hounders 08:50  |  Michael 20/02/08   10.   JEREMY MARTIN Never heard of CAIR? the oil lobby? 08:58  |  PETER SM 20/02/08   11.   to #6 09:06  |  Maurice 20/02/08   12.   Intellectual terrorism 09:07  |  Minda 20/02/08   13.   What a pathetic whiner 09:30  |  Clickfool 20/02/08   14.   To #3: it`s freedom of expression, stupid 09:41  |  abc 20/02/08   15.   Sweden is racist: no more Jews welcome 09:48  |  gunnar 20/02/08   16.   So what`s the problem? 09:56  |  Colin Wright 20/02/08   17.   useful idiots of sweden 10:19  |  don 20/02/08   18.   You would mind Jeremy 10:29  |  Henrik 20/02/08   19.   this is what happens to every country run by the loony left 10:31  |  v hardman 20/02/08   20.   A perfect example of what is meant by Eurabia 10:31  |  A Jew 20/02/08   21.   Sexual freedom in Sweden is legendary- no anti Semitism 10:34  |  Yaakov Sullivan 20/02/08   22.   RAPE and other crime in Malmo. 10:34  |  PETER SM 20/02/08   23.   # 6 j martin 10:44  |  danny 20/02/08   24.   JEREMY MARTIN.Who is stopping you.Renounce US citizenship 10:49  |  PETER SM 20/02/08   25.   CFOOL "We know nothing about this Swedish employee" but you know 10:51  |  PETER SM 20/02/08   26.   Clickfool, board admitted he was fired for his political beliefs 10:56  |  Imenda 20/02/08   27.   Swedish anti-Semitism shielded by the fact no one speaks Swedish 10:58  |  Laguna 20/02/08   28.   Israelis are not forced to emigrate gue to Palestinian violence 11:03  |  Vrel 20/02/08   29.   I have worked with Swedes and grew to dislike them intensely 11:12  |  Marlo 20/02/08   30.   sourden 11:24  |  sweete 20/02/08   31.   i will not say i am surprised 11:29  |  gunnar jarring 20/02/08   32.   what irks me personally is the sheer visciousness 11:35  |  erwin honigstein 20/02/08   33.   animosity for the jews is a fact of life 11:59  |  avraham adan 20/02/08   34.   Directly from Sweden 12:46  |  Stockholm 20/02/08   35.   Clickfool and others like him/her. 12:48  |  Charles Smyth 20/02/08   36.   Supporting Israel at the current time is supporting racism 12:50  |  Stephen Murray 20/02/08   37.   ClickSchmuck # 13 12:59  |  John Woods 20/02/08   38.   vrel #28, just the numbers, eh? ignore reality is your view? 12:59  |  michelle 20/02/08   39.   #13 13:00  |  Mike 20/02/08   40.   Yaacov Sullivan 13:02  |  Barry 20/02/08   41.   absolute sweden, we are with you! 13:03  |  michelle 20/02/08   42.   maybe Sweden doesn`t have freedom of speech? 13:06  |  Nechama 20/02/08   43.   erwin #32 is right - stephen murray way off base 13:09  |  michelle 20/02/08   44.   To Avraham 13:12  |  Paul Woods 20/02/08   45.   # 7 Jeremy Martin....that breath of fresh air 13:14  |  Lynn 20/02/08   46.   But they are, Charles Smyth, they are....# 35 13:16  |  Clickfool 20/02/08   47.   #36. Israelis are not racist. 13:18  |  Charles Smyth 20/02/08   48.   #36 13:23  |  Mike 20/02/08   49.   Finally 13:29  |  Lorenz 20/02/08   50.   #36 let us no forget holland in ww2 13:36  |  v hardman 20/02/08   51.   #36 Stephen Murray 13:40  |  Christian Nielsen 20/02/08   52.   # 42 Nechama....what Sweden has is laws 13:50  |  Lynn 20/02/08   53.   Yet another chapter in Swedish sanctimonious hypocrisy 14:05  |  Jens Nielson 20/02/08   54.   # 49 Lorenz....I have just one question 14:06  |  Lynn 20/02/08   55.   Clickfool Palestinians aka Arabs are victims of their own lust 14:17  |  Axel 20/02/08   56.   The Swedes would have to be the nastiest racists 14:18  |  Clickfool 20/02/08   57.   Being Jewish in Sweden - problems starts in School 14:25  |  Sebastian 20/02/08   58.   hey Murray your conquest of Europe was easier wasn`t it 15:15  |  van Gogh true Dutch 20/02/08   59.   Mr.Eriksson may not let his personal views interfere in his work 15:17  |  AliciaYasmeen 20/02/08   60.   zionist really are a threat to every living thing 15:35  |  preempt zion 20/02/08   61.   To Sweden Bashers 15:45  |  AliciaYasmeen 20/02/08   62.   aliciayasmeen, what about his pro-pali co-worker, eh? 16:05  |  michelle 20/02/08   63.   #19 Hardman in Belfast: Sweden is run by the rightists! 16:51  |  AliciaYasmeen 20/02/08   64.   #62 Michelle: good point - the same rule for pro-Pals! 19:31  |  AliciaYasmeen 20/02/08   65.   To AliciaYasmeen and others unsure of what they are talking about 21:16  |  Ilya Meyer 20/02/08   66.   Ilya Meyer; thank you for the clarification! 23:46  |  AliciaYasmeen 20/02/08   67.   To #65 06:50  |  Gordon 22/02/08   68.   Reply to #67 Gordon with the peculiar questions 09:19  |  Ilya Meyer 22/02/08   69.   Reply to #67 Gordon with the peculiar questions Part 2 09:23  |  Ilya Meyer 22/02/08

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