Several members of the Swedish political establishment, including the country’s Culture Minister, slammed populist Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson after he said he would advocate shutting down a left-liberal radio station.
The Sweden Democrats leader made his comments while on radio station P3, which is run by Swedish national radio broadcaster Sveriges Radio on Wednesday, SVT reports.
“Had I been the boss here I would have shut down P3 directly,” Åkesson said and criticised the channel of being too left-wing while a guest on one of the station’s programmes.
Culture Minister Alice Bah Kunkhe slammed the comments saying: “Jimmie Åkesson’s statement against P3 and public service is one of the worst desires I have heard during my time as Minister of Culture. It is clear that the Swedish Democrats are a party that poses a threat to the free speech.”
Christer Nylander of the Liberals added to the criticism saying: “We have seen how SD’s sister parties in Europe get on and try to control and influence the media.”
Half of Swedes Avoid Mainstream Media, Get Most of Their News from Alternative Sites https://t.co/f9JqSBYFln pic.twitter.com/4vbglJGZGN
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) December 17, 2016
“But when a leading politician says it that way, it’s very serious. It is a direct or indirect way to try and influence things,” Nylander added.
Later the same day Åkesson doubled down on his comments during a programme hosted by newspaper Expressen saying: “I want to emphasise that I say it as a licensee, not as a politician, who goes in and downloads media. But I think P3 is a dirt channel, I really think so.”
The Sweden Democrats leader explained that before his comments, a crude satire had aired on the broadcast. “That caused me to go hard on them, I think they deserve it,” he added.
Satire against politicians, particularly anti-establishment populists or conservatives, has been particularly vicious from the mainstream media in Europe in recent years. In Germany, satire magazine Titanic caused a storm of controversy after publishing a cover featuring Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz with the caption it was “finally possible to kill baby Hitler”.
U.S. President Donald Trump has also been subject to smears in the German press, including a cover of magazine Der Spiegel in which he was depicted as decapitating the Statue of Liberty in the same manner as an Islamic State executioner.
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