Four members of a white supremacist fitness club face verdict for allegedly assaulting immigrants in Stockholm hate crime trial
STOCKHOLM: A Stockholm court will deliver its verdict on Tuesday for four men accused of assaulting immigrants in a case highlighting Europe’s growing white supremacist fitness club movement.
The defendants, aged 20 to 23, belong to an “Active Club” promoting white nationalist, misogynist, and hyper-masculine ideology through loosely structured gym meetings.
They face hate crime charges for allegedly beating three men of foreign origin during a 30-minute rampage on August 27 in Stockholm.
Prosecutor Gustav Andersson told the district court the accused first struck a black man in the face with an umbrella while shouting racial slurs.
They then attacked a Syrian-origin man, knocking him unconscious and knocking out four teeth through repeated head kicks.
Three suspects subsequently beat another man on a subway train, according to prosecutors.
“People of foreign origin were chosen at random” for the attacks, Andersson stated, adding that several accused “made Nazi salutes that were caught on surveillance cameras”.
Evidence presented included notebooks with swastikas and stickers reading “Love Sweden, Hate Islam” seized from the defendants.
Victims described lasting trauma, with the subway assault victim reporting “intense hatred” during the attack.
“I was beaten severely… I didn’t even have time to think before he took a running start and hit me with full force,” he testified.
Prosecutors sought four-and-a-half-year prison sentences for three defendants and slightly less for the fourth, who wasn’t involved in the subway assault.
The accused deny most charges, claiming self-defence, though they acknowledge the final subway attack captured on security cameras.
According to Swedish anti-racism group Expo, Active Club members are encouraged to violently target immigrants, feminists, Jews, and LGBTQ individuals outside gym settings.
They “hope to regain their masculinity by way of violence, improving their physical fitness and building a strong fraternity with other men who support each other,” states a document from Sweden’s Centre for Preventing Violent Extremism.
The verdict is scheduled for 11:00 am local time (1000 GMT). – AFP
