Kent Ekeroth

Kent Ekeroth
Ekeroth in 2014
Member of the Swedish parliament for Stockholm County
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 October 2010
Personal details
Born Kent Alexander Ekeroth
11 September 1981
Political party Sweden Democrats
Alma mater Lund University
Profession Economist

Kent Alexander Ekeroth (born 11 September 1981) is a Swedish politician of the Sweden Democrats, a far-right political party.[1] He has been the member of the Riksdag since 4 October 2010 (elected in the 2010 general election), representing the Stockholm County constituency.[2] In parliament, he has been a member of the Committee on Justice and a deputy member of Committee on European Union Affairs.[2] Ekeroth has studied economics.[3] He joined the Sweden Democrats in 2006.[4] Since 2007, he is the party's secretary for international affairs.[5] In October 2006, Ekeroth was fired from his internship at the Swedish embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, after the embassy had found out about his involvement with the Sweden Democrats.[3] The embassy's actions were later criticised by the Swedish Chancellor of Justice, Göran Lambertz, who ruled that the firing was illegal and a breach of the Swedish constitutional laws.[6] The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, who are responsible for all Swedish embassies abroad, also had to pay damages to Ekeroth.[6] Ekeroth is a board member of the pan-European eurosceptic European Alliance for Freedom.[7]

In November 2012, Ekeroth took a break from his duties after the leakage of a video filmed with his mobile phone from an event which became known as Järnrörsskandalen ("Iron bar scandal").[8][9] Erik Almqvist had two years earlier published an edited version of the video to show how he and his party colleagues Ekeroth and Christian Westling had been verbally abused that evening.[10] The film released in November 2012 by Expressen showed Ekeroth and his colleagues arming themselves with iron bars after brawling with a drunken man.[11] Ekeroth argued with a young woman, who he allegedly later pushed against a car.[11] Almqvist used racist and sexist remarks without Ekeroth reacting against it.[12] The police came to the place and the drunken man said that he saw Ekeroth pushing the woman. Ekeroth and his colleagues had returned when they heard the sirens and said to the police that they had been threatened by the man.[11] While Erik Almqvist was forced to resign, Ekeroth remained in the parliament. Social democrat and chairman of the Committee on Justice Morgan Johansson was quoted as saying "I wonder what his constituents will think of him being in the Riksdag and getting paid without any real duties".[13]

Ekeroth later invoiced the Swedish newspapers who used the film or stills from the event. For example, Svenska Dagbladet received an invoice of 51,725 Swedish kronor (c. 5,500 Euros).[14] Ekeroth has denied connections to the far-right news site Avpixlat though he has been found to govern the anonymous editorial staff via emails and the site uses his personal bank account for its finances.[15] Avpixlat has been called a "hate site" for its expressions of violence and xenophobia.[16] Ekeroth has also denied publishing any articles at the news site, but was quickly found to have published articles as recently as one month before his denial. The tax authorities also found him legally obliged to pay taxes on those donations to Avpixlat, of which 70,000SEK had immediately been further transferred to other private accounts owned by Ekeroth.[15]

Kent Ekeroth was born to a Jewish mother from Pavlodar in Kazakhstan (then a part of the Soviet Union),[17] who arrived as a refugee via Poland to Sweden in the 1960s together with her mother (Ekeroth´s grandmother) and sisters.[18] Ekeroth´s mother was sentenced to prison and a trade ban by a Swedish court for tax evasion and accounting violation,[19] something that has been highlighted in radio and newspapers in connection with Sweden Democrat proposals for harsher treatment of foreign born criminals [18] and those with a "foreign family background".[20] Ekeroth considers himself Jewish, with an atheistic life stance.[21][22]

References

  1. ↑ The Economist: The far right in northern Europe. 17 March 2011
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Kent Ekeroth (SD)". Parliament of Sweden. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lutteman, Markus (31 October 2006). "Sverigedemokrat uppsagd". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  4. ↑ Nilsson, Kerstin (19 October 2009). "Tvillingbröderna startar kampanj mot muslimer". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  5. ↑ Ekeroth, Kent. "Om mig" (in Swedish). Kent Ekeroth. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Sverigedemokrat får 30 000 i skadestånd". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). 7 August 2008. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  7. ↑ About EAF, European Alliance for Freedom, retrieved 7 July 2011
  8. ↑ Sweden Democrat Erik Almqvist steps down
  9. ↑ Sweden Democrat Almqvist leaves parliament, becomes Party's media consultant
  10. ↑ http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/sverigedemokraterna/pressreleases/erik-almqvist-redogoer-foer-graelet-med-soran-ismails-gangsterkamrat-471737
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Ekeroth takes 'break' after new revelations
  12. ↑ Almqvist och Ekeroth beväpnar sig med järnrör
  13. ↑ http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/ekeroth-lamnar-sitt-uppdrag
  14. ↑ http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/jag-bestrider-fakturan-kent-ekeroth_8824528.svd
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 http://www.dagensmedia.se/nyheter/dig/article3721474.ece
  16. ↑ "Swedish magnates fund infamous 'hate site'". The Local. 23 October 2013.
  17. ↑ http://eaec-se.org/articles/Johansen/har_sverigedemokraterna_blivit_mangkulturella.htm
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 http://www.expressen.se/kultur/utom-lilla-mamma/
  19. ↑ http://www.sydsvenskan.se/lund/pengarna-gomdes-pa-hemligt-konto--nu-doms-lakaren-till-fangelse/
  20. ↑ http://www.expressen.se/kronikorer/britta-svensson/bjorn-soder-du-ar-inte-min-talman/
  21. ↑ Kent Ekeroth: Juderna är nyttiga idiotar för muslimarna Judisk Krönika, nr. 6 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2013 (Swedish)
  22. ↑ http://www.aftonbladet.se/debatt/article15801675.ab

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