In Sweden, we can see a very worrying development, where many people have lost confidence in police and judiciary. For example, some shop owners don’t bother to report crime to the police because it usually doesn’t lead anywhere and many journalists have low confidence in the judiciary (all links in this post are to Swedish content). We have also seen how police and judiciary have mishandled cases like Palme and Assange so badly that the authorities are seen as not doing their job properly or are even suspected to be acting in a criminal way. Read also the articles “Palmeutpekande får svidande kritik av JO” and “Ett mordiskt system skapas inför våra ögon”.
Devaluation of life
While we are in many places of the world now seeing massive disrespect for human rights, loss of democracy, widespread propaganda and preparations for war, there are also scary signs of a development towards devaluation of life. All these components remind us about what happened before WWII.
In Sweden, some have raised concerns over how elderly people are treated, in particular when they have Covid. Geriatrics professor Yngve Gustafson says (link to article in Swedish):
Routinely administering respiratory inhibitors to the elderly with lung infection is active euthanasia, to say the least
It makes you wonder how many have actually died of what might be called euthanasia (despite that active euthanasia is not allowed in Sweden) but have been reported as having died from or with Covid. The Swedish journalist Elisabet Höglund uses words like “killing” (“avlivning”) instead, when she describes this (link to blog post Swedish). It is also very unfortunate that the term “palliative care” is misused for this.
If anyone thinks that lack of resources is a valid excuse for not giving also older Covid patients real care, then remember that the external hospital built with assistance from the military in Stockholm 2020 was dismantled after not having treated a singe patient (link to content in Swedish).
Ecuador requires Covid-19 vaccination also for children
Ecuador becomes the first country to mandate Covid vaccines for children from age of 5 (and also for adults). Other countries that require or will require vaccination for adults include Indonesia, Micronesia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Austria.
Two present human rights issues in Indonesia
- The United Nations says Indonesia must immediately drop charges and look into threats, intimidation and reprisals against human rights defender Veronica Koman and her family. Read more.
- Mandatory vaccination is particularly concerning given that Indonesia has a history of using coercive tactics for the sake of public health. Read more.
Julian Assange spends another Christmas in prison
As Julian Assange spends another Christmas in prison, the perpetrators of many of the crimes he helped reveal still enjoy their impunity. The Assange case keeps reminding us about the ongoing extreme failure of justice, in a number of countries. The failure is causing serious damage to our society in general, because a well-functioning legal system is so important for society to become successful.
Don’t miss the articles about Assange published yesterday by Erling Borgen (in Norwegian) and Ameen Izzadeen.
Protecting the Nazis
Read the blog post by Craig Murray about the countries that unsuccessfully tried to stop the UN General Assembly from adopting a resolution condemning Nazism. Note that in addition to the two countries voting against the resolution, 49 countries (including Sweden and Finland, where many influential people were pro-Nazi in the beginning of WWII) abstained in the vote.
The Danish spy case
Read the question from Hans Wallmark (in Swedish). However, he apparently forgot to mention the bazaar, which Accoun wrote about already in 2014.
Government’s proposal restricts freedom of expression
Nils Funcke writes that for the past seven years, the Swedish government has, with some exceptions, dismantled the protection of our fundamental freedoms and rights. Read the chronicle (in Swedish).
More news from Austria
- In Austria, people will not only be forced to vaccinate themselves against Covid. They police has even used physical force in order to force Covid testing of a person, against her will. Afterwards, a court has decided that this was illegal. However, it is also reported that “Compulsory testing is legally possible, but must be ordered by the authorities.” The authority should also have checked the proportionality beforehand. Read the article (in German).
- Last week, around 200 doctors in Austria sent an open letter. The undersigned question the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine in healthy people under 65 with no risk factors. The names of eight school doctors appear in the signature list. They now risk loosing their jobs, because they are critical of vaccinations. Read the article (in German).
- A professor, who is critical against the handling of the Corona crisis, has been fired from his work at the Medical University of Vienna. The professor recently held a press conference together with a leading politician in Austria. Read the article (in German).
Challenging the Swedish self-image
Sweden is known to be one of the least corrupt countries in the world. Or perhaps more accurately, it used to be that way. Three political scientists are now challenging the Swedish self-image. They claim that the Swedish institutions seem vulnerable to infiltration, corruption and fraud. Read more in Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish).