Sweden: Far-right anti-Islam politician taps into backlash against immigration

A recent outbreak of violence in Sweden has drawn attention to a little-known politician who stages offensive provocations against Muslims. Experts say his rise comes amid a hardening of attitudes towards immigrants.


Plans by a far-right politician to publicly burn the Quran triggered days of rioting across several Swedish cities

When far-right Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan announced he was organizing a series of meetings across Sweden last week during which he planned to burn a copy of the Quran, Islam's holy book, the reaction was intense.

His first rallies were met by counter-protests with demonstrations escalating into riots across a string of cities. These resulted in burned cars, scuffles and arson that left some police and protesters injured.

While governments in the Middle East spoke out against the planned Quran burnings, Swedish police said Monday that some protesters who joined the riots and were suspected of being behind the violent flare-ups were actually linked to criminal gangs targeting Swedish police and society, not Paludan and his stunt.

In an interview with Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper on Sunday, Swedish Justice Minister Morgan Johansson called Paludan a "right-wing extremist fool, whose only goal is to drive violence and divisions."

Swedish police say some protestors linked to escalating violence were part of criminal gangs targeting law enforcement

Fanning the flames for political gain

In a statement posted by his Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party on Facebook, Paludan said over the weekend he had decided to call off demonstrations in the eastern cities of Linkoping and Norrkoping, both of which saw clashes, because Swedish authorities had, "shown that they are completely incapable of protecting themselves and me."

Some say the days-long unrest played into the hands of Paludan, whose Hard Line party contested the last elections in Denmark in 2019 on an anti-Islam platform but fell just short of the two percent threshold needed to enter parliament.

He is now focusing his attention on neighboring Sweden, where the 40-year-old, who has dual citizenship, plans to stand in September parliamentary elections.

"This is exactly the kind of publicity and violent reaction that Paludan wants so that he can point to it and say: 'this shows what kind of society Sweden has created by being so lax on immigration,'" Anders Widfeldt, a Swedish lecturer in politics at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, told DW.

Paludan is an extreme anti-Islam provocateur testing the limits of Sweden and Denmark's tradition of free speech

Who is Rasmus Paludan?

Widfeldt, who has researched right-wing movements and populism in Scandinavia, said Paludan previously used the same stunts in Denmark.

He has staged offensive protests against Muslims like tossing a book he claimed was the Quran into the air and letting it fall to the ground or wrapping the book in bacon, often in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations.

The lawyer, who grew up in Denmark, first gained notoriety through a series of online videos in which he made derogatory comments on Islam and its followers as well as Black people, and confronted people with his views in immigrant-dominated neighborhoods.

"Paludan argues this is a legitimate protest against what he thinks is an evil ideology," Widfeldt said. "It ties into ongoing debates in Denmark and Sweden about how far free speech can go and what amounts to legitimate critique and what amounts to an illegitimate provocation."

In 2020, supporters of Paludan burned a Quran in the Swedish city of Malmo, sparking violent protests. Paludan was banned from Belgium for a year, from Sweden for two years and expelled from France after signaling his intention to burn a Quran in Paris.

He was convicted and given a suspended jail term in Denmark in June 2020 for a string of offenses including racism and defamation. The criminal lawyer was disbarred for three years as a result.

"His extreme movement is focused on just one single issue and this is banning Islam and deporting all Muslims," Widfeldt said. "Though if you followed that policy, it would amount to ethnic cleansing."

Muslims consider any intentional damage or show of disrespect towards the Quran deeply offensive SO DO CHRISTIANS ABOUT THE BIBLE AND THE JEWS WITH THE TORAH

Hardening attitudes towards immigrants

Experts say the rise of extremists like Paludan has to be seen in the broader context of hardening attitudes towards immigrants in both Denmark and Sweden since the migration crisis of 2015 and 2016, when more than a million people from Africa and the Middle East fled to Europe.

Thousands arrived in the two Nordic countries with Sweden, which has a population of about 10 million, accepting more refugees per capita than any other European country.

"We have a situation where the population has become much more diverse. At the same time, there is a lot of gang violence in Sweden," Anders Hellstrom, a specialist in nationalist and populist movements and a senior lecturer at Malmo University told DW.

"This trope of linking crime and immigration and portraying Sweden as a place of violent immigrants — like Paludan does — is now quite common rhetoric. Russian state-sponsored media have long been peddling it."

In 2017, former US President Donald Trump made an infamous remark about Sweden during a campaign-style rally, suggesting the country's history of welcoming refugees was at the root of a violent attack that actually never happened.

At the time it sparked outrage in Sweden but experts say that link is now more widely accepted.

A 'mainstreaming of extremism'

The backlash against immigration has emboldened the rise of right-wing populism with even mainstream parties picking up far-right talking points and taking a tougher stance on migrants.

Denmark's 2019 elections made clear that the far-right Danish People's Party's anti-immigration agenda had been adopted by several mainstream parties on the left and the right.

In Sweden, the far-right Sweden Democrats, an anti-immigration political party with neo-Nazi roots, is now jockeying to enter government in upcoming September elections. The party wants many of those who have been granted asylum in Sweden in recent years to leave and has called the spread of Islam the country's "biggest threat."

"Once fringe, parties like the Sweden Democrats are all trying to attract the common man and saying 'we are super normal,'" Hellstrom said.

"So we're seeing a mainstreaming of extremism where it's normal to talk about Muslims and immigrants in a way that would have been considered extreme two decades ago. Someone like a Paludan then needs to find an even more extreme message to be heard."

Once a welcoming place for refugees, Sweden is worried about rising immigration and strains on its welfare system

'Not everything is going down the drain'

As for Rasmus Paludan's political future in Sweden, experts point out he does not yet have the number of signatures needed to secure his candidacy. Unlike Denmark, Sweden also has a higher four percent threshold to enter parliament.

Anders Widfeldt explained that Paludan's efforts to build a political platform in Sweden had also suffered a setback after revelations by a Danish tabloid that he had been involved in sex chats with young boys. Paludan has claimed it was innocent banter.

Some say it's important to take a more realistic view of developments in recent years.

"Since 2015, we have an extreme polarization in society. But we have regressive as well as progressive forces. You have a Rasmus Paludan but you also have a Greta Thunberg and the 'Fridays for Future' movement. There are reports of immigrants integrating into the labor market," Hellstrom said.

"It's important to have a nuanced picture and not believe that everything is going down the drain."

France: A Le Pen victory a burden on France's budget?

President Macron's economic manifesto doesn't enthuse every French voter. But when it comes to the plans of his opponent Marine Le Pen, economists have said they could have severe financial consequences.


In France's presidential election campaign five years ago, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen's economic program turned out to be one of her weak points.

As in this year's election, she was facing centrist Emmanuel Macron — the current president — in the runoff vote.

During a television debate a few days ahead of the 2017 second ballot, Macron called Le Pen's plans for the country to exit the eurozone and renegotiate European treaties "lethal for [France's] spending power and competitiveness."

Le Pen had difficulties countering his criticism and repeatedly got lost in the numerous dossiers she had piled up on the table in front of her, quoting erroneous pieces of information.

The extremist candidate has now officially dropped her eurozone exit plans. But economists say implementing her manifesto would ultimately lead to the same result — and trigger an international financial crisis.

Le Pen is, like in the 2017 election, depicting herself as "the candidate of [increased] spending power." She has promised to reduce value added tax from 20% to 5.5% for energy products such as fuel, and scrap that tax for certain basic goods.

French consumers may be in for a nasty surprise should Le Pen succeed Macron

Measures that could lead to stagflation

But Philippe Crevel, economist and head of Paris-based policy center Cercle de l'Epargne, has called such measures counterproductive and accused Le Pen of brinkmanship.

"Prices would initially go down, but that would push up consumer demand and ultimately prices, as there are not suddenly more products available on the market," he told DW.

He explained that only higher productivity — i.e. more products generated per input such as labor — could boost spending power, as the additional money could be spent on additional available goods.

Le Pen has equally promised to encourage wage increases by waiving employers' charges on those salary rises. "But that would again cause inflation: To balance out wage increases, companies — especially as they are faced with rising prices for resources also due to the war in Ukraine — would raise product prices," said Crevel.

The economist thinks that, in time, the proposed measures would trigger a stagflation. That's a combination of stagnating growth and high inflation.

"It would be similar to what happened after the oil shock in the 1970s; we would see mass unemployment, which would first of all hit the workers," he said.

An 'absurd' and 'deeply immoral' program

Henri Sterdyniak, economist at the Paris-based left-leaning research center Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques, agrees that Le Pen's program is unlikely to help the less fortunate and calls it "absurd."

"She plans to take down France's wind turbines and give any subsidy money instead to the French. And people under 30 will be exempt from income tax, but why should young good earners not pay taxes? All this doesn't make sense," he told DW.

"Plus, her measures are deeply immoral: Foreigners would be asked to pay up and French nationals would have priority when it comes to jobs, housing or social benefits," he added.

The economist also strongly disagrees with bringing down employers' charges: "Our public debt is excessive, currently at 113% of GDP — we need to finance our social state somehow!" he said.

Sterdyniak has criticized Macron's program for that same reason. The current president pledges to triple the so-called "Macron premium," a €1,000 ($1,080) year-end bonus exempt from taxes and employers' charges that has been in place since 2018.

"This is a dangerous game and hardly compatible with Macron's promise to increase the minimum pension by more than €100 to €1,100," warned Sterdyniak.

Will Macron be able to push through further reforms?

Overall, Macron's manifesto includes fewer concrete measures and is much less detailed than that of Le Pen. He mainly pledges to continue doing what he's been doing since 2017: market-orientated reforms. He also plans to further liberalize the labor market, bring down business taxes and increase the retirement age to 65, from the current 62.

Economist Crevel said a pension reform makes perfect sense, given rising public debt.

"And yet, pushing his plans through should be increasingly difficult as many French are opposed to these," he explained. The president's first term in power was disrupted by numerous demonstrations such as those by the so-called yellow vest movement that blocked the country for months asking for more social justice.

Macron has, meanwhile, already started to water down his plans mainly to convince the 22% of the electorate that chose far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who came third in the first ballot on April 10. Macron has announced he could lower the pension age target to 64, and submit his plans to a referendum. He has also said he'd include more ecological measures in his program.

Stanislas Hannoun, head of the campaign for fiscal justice and against inequality at the federation of charitable organizations, Oxfam France, has welcomed these shifts. His group has screened the candidates' manifestos looking for social, ecological and gender justice content.

"Macron performed really poorly, even if Le Pen looks even worse," Hannoun told DW.

"The president is calling himself progressive — he should walk the walk by for example exempting alimony from tax," he added.

Lisa Thomas-Darbois fears a Le Pen victory would be a heavy burden on France's public budget

Le Pen's plans would 'undermine investors' trust'

Institut Montaigne, a Paris-based think tank close to the employers, has also screened the contenders' manifestos — for their fiscal sustainability.

"Both would increase the burden on the public budget, but Le Pen's plans would mean a bottom line of roughly €101 billion of extra spending compared with an overall cost of €44 billion for Macron's program," Institut Montaigne's Lisa Thomas-Darbois told DW.

"What's more, many of Le Pen's proposals contradict French law and the country's international commitments, which would undermine investors' trust," she said.

"But that trust is crucial to maintain low interest rates for France, which the country relies upon to refinance its public debt," she added.

Le Pen plans to set up a new national fund to nationalize certain strategic sectors such as highways. French companies would be given priority in public tenders. And French products would benefit from a concept of "national preference."

"All those protectionist measures would infringe EU law — the national preference rule for example would mean the government would levy import tariffs," macroeconomist Crevel explained, adding that the plans would eventually lead to a Frexit, France leaving the EU.

"Le Pen seems to bank on the EU ultimately kicking France out, as the country would be going against too many EU rules and create too much instability," he said.

And a Frexit would have international repercussions.

"Several French banks are systemic to the eurozone and their exit from the euro system would cause worldwide ripples; it would trigger an international financial crisis," he warned.

Cracking down on peace: How Russian anti-war protesters face persecution

Russian authorities are attempting to intimidate opponents of the war in Ukraine. Courageous activists in Kazan report what they have been doing and what consequences they face. A report from Tatarstan.

Laws in Russia make it illegal to protest the war in Ukraine in any form, silent or otherwise

A law prohibiting the "discrediting the Russian Armed Forces" has been in force for a little more than a month now. Since then, courts across Russia have investigated more than 300 allegations. Criminal prosecutions have been brought in at least 21 cases. In some instances, the defendants had boisterously called for peace and an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine, in others they held silent protests against the war.

"There is a police station that I always pass on my way to and from work. I have been doing so for the last year-and-a-half and no police officer has ever taken any notice of me. That was also the case for a month after I tied a green ribbon on my backpack," says Alexei from Kazan, whose name has been changed at his request.

'Symbol of an illegal protest'

Activists have been holding peace protests in various cities across Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. They display green ribbons in public squares, or wear them as a sign of silent protest against the war. Alexei was arrested in the center of Kazan, the capital of the semi-autonomous Russian Republic of Tatarstan. He says the green ribbon on his backpack was originally a sign of support for the fight against kidney cancer. But Alexei does not dispute that he was also showing solidarity with opponents of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"At the police station I witnessed a very interesting situation. The department head kept on calling someone to find out what I should be charged with. First, one report was drafted, then a second, and ultimately, everything was rewritten," Alexei recalls. Finally, he was accused of undermining trust in the Russian Armed Forces "in the presence of citizens." According to the report, Alexei was carrying a black backpack with a green ribbon — an illegal protest symbol.
More and more street arrests

A few days ago, Azat Sabirov and Irina Badertdinova were detained in Kazan. They had swapped supermarket price tags for anti-war slogans. For example, price tags on one shelf for coffee suddenly read: "The Russian army has bombarded the art school in in Mariupol. Some 400 people were trying to shelter from gunfire there." Both are now also accused of "undermining trust in the Russian Armed Forces." But neither their case, nor Alexei's has been brought to trial yet.

Young and old Russians are refusing to stay silent, risking fines and jail to call for an end to violence in neighboring Ukraine

In the meantime, people in Kazan have been reporting more and more detentions on the streets over the past few days. One citizen, who wishes to remain anonymous, says he was stopped because he was wearing a blue scarf and a yellow jacket — the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Another reported that she was arrested because she had put up anti-war flyers in public toilets. Another man still, says he was detained because he was carrying a bouquet of dried blue and yellow flowers.

"When the war began, I attended a vigil. Two police officers came up to me and we had a conversation. We didn't share the same opinion but they did not try to convince me," according to another man, who adds: "When I ended up at the police station a few weeks later, there was no more talk. They wrote a report and were pleased that they were going to get a special arrest bonus." He says none of the police officers used the word "war," but just talked about the Russian army's "special operation" in Ukraine.
Raids and trials

Before the arrests started in Kazan, raids were carried out at the homes of journalists, activists and students. There were three different waves on March 6, 17, and 25. Many of those affected complain they were the victims of police violence.

"During the raids there were dreadful insults, humiliation, threats and beatings to my head and back. I was put in handcuffs and forced to kneel for three or four hours. They threatened to strip my 69-year-old mother naked if I did not tell them where my cellphone was," wrote activist Andrei Boyarshinov, who also lives in Kazan. He passed his report to journalists; DW has attained a copy. Boyarshinov, who is now being held in custody in a prison, is accused by authorities of having publicly called for terrorist acts. He rejects the allegations.

Police crackdowns are intensifying across Russia say anti-war protesters

Three other Kazan residents, Marina Ionova, Timur Tuchvatullin and Ruslan Terentyev, are accused by authorities of having organized mass unrest after the raids. The allegation is based on a post on the Telegram messaging app channel used by the protest movement in Kazan. In it, a user nicknamed Mickey Mouse had called for violence at the protests. The post has disappeared in the meantime. The activists have not been detained as of yet and their lawyers say the allegations are trumped up. "I cannot say whether all these posts and articles are real. I have only seen one screen shot but it is unclear where it came from," says Ruslan Ignatyev, a lawyer representing Timur Tuchvatullin.
The aim: to silence people

People living in other Russian regions — from Kaliningrad to Magadan — have similar stories to tell. Anti-war flyers, graffiti, clothing in the colors of the Ukrainian flag all discredit the Russian Armed Forces, according to police and judges.

"Such persecution is really happening en masse. People who criticize the military deployment more often and more loudly than others are implicated in different ways in ongoing proceedings. All of that, of course, is simply intended to intimidate. The authorities believe they can silence people with raids and criminal prosecutions," says human rights lawyer Elsa Nizanbekova.

In most cases, people found guilty of "discrediting the operation of the Russian Armed Forces" are simply fined. But anyone found to have committed anti-war "crimes" again within a year of paying their fine can expect to face prison.

This article was originally written in Russian

Opinion: Germany, scapegoat of the Ukraine war

Germany is being criticized by Ukraine and other countries in Europe, but that is unfair says DW's Marco Müller, because Germany is doing more to help Kyiv than almost any other country.


German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces domestic and international criticism

Demand. Snub. Demand. Snub — that seems to be the pattern Ukraine is currently following in talks with and about Germany. That recently included making clear that German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was not welcome to visit Kyiv after Ukrainian leadership criticized his previous policies on Russia and after Steinmeier admitted having made mistakes.

The template has been very successful. German media are also jumping on the bandwagon. Not a day goes by when Berlin is not shamed publicly, without critical journalists asking members of the German government why we are not finally giving up Russian oil and gas, and why Germany is not supplying Ukraine with all the weapons the country has requested. It is an increasingly annoying and utterly superfluous spectacle.

Germany more supportive of Ukraine than most

For one thing, Germany, along with the US, has been Ukraine's largest donor since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Second, apart from Ukraine's immediate neighbors, Germany is one of the countries that takes in the most Ukrainian refugees.

Third, Germany is one of Ukraine's top financial backers for arms purchases. Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently announced Germany is shelling out up to €2 billion ($2.1 billion) in military aid. And he has left no doubt that we must stand by Ukraine in the war against Russia.

DW's Marco Müller

In that context, how clever is it of the Ukrainian government to constantly antagonize the German government with new, harshly worded demands? When Germany supplies desired weapons, Kyiv says: That's good, but it should be much more. When Germany announces nothing less than a paradigm shift by turning its back on Russian coal, oil and gas, it says: That's well and good, but it has to happen immediately.

Is a 180 degree turnabout not good enough?

People tend to forget that Germany has made a U-turn of unprecedented magnitude. The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has been stopped and €100 billion have been earmarked for the German armed forces in a plan Scholz announced shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germany is paying for arms deliveries to a war zone. The German government is starting to cut its close and extremely important ties with Russia regarding raw materials. The economy minister, a Green party politician, traveled to the Middle East to buy oil and gas while thinking out loud about letting German coal and nuclear power plants run longer than planned. These are all extreme course changes in an incredibly short period of time. What other European countries have changed their policies as drastically as Germany has — and at such high cost?

Scapegoat for other EU nations

Even more irritating than Kyiv's unfriendly attitude, however, is the behavior of other European countries. Those who take no action themselves but hide behind Germany or even point a finger at Berlin — one could get the impression that it is all about image.

French President Emmanuel Macron made several unsuccessful phone calls in an attempt to influence Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. He also made sure the soccer Champions League final, which was supposed to take place in Russia, will be played in France. The country is not quite as decisive when it comes to bringing refugees to France.

Italy said, publicly and wholeheartedly, that it could immediately do without Russian gas. Meaning that if Europe fails to enact a gas embargo it is because of other member states — read: Germany. Poland, without first coordinating with allies, is publicly pushing to deliver airplanes to Ukraine — but only through the US via an airbase in Germany. If the planes are not delivered, says Warsaw, it is because of the US or Germany. Hungary gets off scot-free — at least in the eyes of the German public — with its Russia-friendly course. Budapest happily accepts cheap Russian gas and, if necessary, says it will foot the bill in rubles.

Discord only benefits Putin

People could get the impression that some EU member states would not mind seeing Germany lose face, or forfeit some of its economic strength and prosperity.

Schadenfreude? Perhaps. But the fact is it always takes two to play the blame game with all its demands and compliance — one party to make loud demands and point fingers and another party to take it lying down.

So why the superfluous spectacle? After all, everyone shares the same goal — ending Russia's war in Ukraine. So why sow discord? It only benefits one person: Vladimir Putin.

This article has been translated from German.

420 day: Berlin pro-cannabis rally demands immediate legalization

Hundreds of marijuana users gathered in the German capital to mark 420, the annual cannabis celebration, to demand legalization of the drug. Germany's new government has promised a new law.



At least 500 pro-legalization protesters gathered in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday for 420, the annual April 20 celebration marked by cannabis consumers around the world, to urge the government to move forward with its plans to decriminalize the drug.

The police presence, enough to fill several police vans parked around the demo, prevailed on organizers to turn the German hip-hop and rap music down, but made no overt attempt to trace the many clouds of smoke hanging above the small crowd.

The gathering was made up of activists, rappers, former police officers, patients who use cannabis for treatments and several small business owners who used the opportunity to promote cannabis-friendly products, from "ecological" hemp and beeswax firelighters to an all-in-one cannabis grow kit, complete with fume extractor and power unit.

Martin Montana (left) said the government could decriminalize cannabis tomorrow if it wanted to

Promises but no action

An estimated 4 million people in Germany consume cannabis, and the coalition contract presented by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's new government last December was clear enough about its aims. "We will introduce the controlled distribution of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes in licensed stores," the government promised, before detailing the reasons: "This will ensure quality, prevent the proliferation of impure substances and guarantee youth protection. We will evaluate the law's social consequences after four years."

But five months on and there has been no word or timetable about when legal stores might be opened, and pro-cannabis activists are getting impatient at what they consider unnecessary foot-dragging. After all, the Green party, now a part of the government coalition, has already presented a draft law to the Bundestag in the last few years and seen it defeated.

"All they have to do is sign it," said Martin Montana, dressed in a suit decorated from head to foot with florescent green marijuana leaves. "What's important is protecting young people, making sure it's not dealt in schoolyards — all that's logical, just like with alcohol."

Montana is a former soldier who said he used cannabis to cope with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. "I need it to control my flashbacks, and for the last 20 years I've managed to do that," he said. "I just want to do that peacefully and legally."

Watch video 01:46 Is Canada a model for German cannabis legalization?

The pro-legalization judge

One of Germany's most famous and passionate legalization campaigners is Andreas Müller, a judge at a Berlin juvenile court, who has been persistently outraged at the amount of police and judicial time he thinks is wasted on prosecuting drug consumers.

"I thought it would happen quickly now, I thought they'd bring a draft law into parliament," the 60-year-old told DW. "There's a Green party draft law ready to go."

But rushing through a law would be counterproductive, according to the government. A spokesman for Burkhard Blienert, the federal commissioner for drugs and addiction, said that several ministries have to be included in framing the law, listing the Agriculture, Economy, Finance, Justice and Foreign ministries as examples. "Each of these houses must make a contribution, and all these contributions have to be minutely coordinated with one another," the spokesman told DW in a statement. "Also the state governments, local authorities, schools, addiction help organizations, and police have to prepare for the altered situation."

"Mr. Blienert regularly emphasizes that rushed jobs would not do justice to the complexity of the plan," the spokesman said. "The aim is to make a success of the agreement on cannabis in the coalition contract that endures beyond a day."

Cannabis-friendly entrepreneurs took to the streets of Berlin on Wednesday

The grinding cogs of government

Müller has absolutely no time for such arguments. "The police don't have to prepare at all! They'll be completely unburdened the very next day, with just one little law!" he said. "I know a lot of police officers, I spent 20 years as a lecturer for the police, and they would be very happy if they didn't have to pursue people."

Two pro-legalization organizations, the German Hemp Association (DHV) and the Network for Legalization, have set up an online stat-ticker — based on criminal statistics and a DHV study on the potential tax revenue of legalized cannabis — that counts the estimated number of "consumption-related" criminal prosecutions and the estimated lost taxes with every second the government fails introduce legal cannabis sales. On April 20, 132 days into the new German government, the ticker stood at over 68,000 prosecutions and over €1.7 billion ($1.8 billion).

A study published last year by the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf calculated that dealing with cannabis-related crime incurred €1.63 billion in police costs in 2020, plus €444.7 million in court costs. Factoring in both savings and tax revenue, the study found, cannabis legalization could bring the state €4.7 billion a year.

Another prominent speaker at Wednesday's demo was Hubert Wimber, former police president in the city of Münster and now head of the German branch of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an organization of police officers and lawyers.

Watch video 29:01Flipping the Script – Should Germany legalize cannabis?

Wimber said decriminalization was just an initial step. "It's about creating a regulated market with the aim of pushing back and ultimately destroying the black market," he told DW. "That's what we all want as consumers: A transparent market with reasonable criteria for active ingredients and concrete youth protection rules. I know from my experience that criminal markets do not protect young people at all."

Though decriminalization would have an instant effect, and could be done quickly, the process of legalization could take several years, as it would involve setting up the farming, processing, and retail sale of cannabis in licensed stores.

Medicinal cannabis has been legal in Germany since 2017, and, in practice, many cannabis-related prosecutions in Germany are dropped by state prosecutors because the amounts involved are so low. "But at the same time, there are 57,000 convictions in German courts of consumers of illegal drugs," said Wimber. "That's a scandal — consumers don't harm anyone, they don't infringe on the rights of any other people. It's completely absurd."

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.

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World Cannabis Day: A brief cultural history of hemp

Whether the Chinese emperor, the prophet Moses or the US founding fathers: the hemp plant has been part of people's everyday lives for millennia — and not just as an intoxicant.



Hemp is making a comeback after decades in the wilderness

What does the Gutenberg Bible have in common with the American Declaration of Independence? Or a tapestry from the Viking age with Christopher Columbus' ship? And what connects the nomadic Scythians described by Greek historian Herodotus with the anointing ritual of the prophet Moses?

The answer to all these questions is very simple: hemp.

For thousands of years, the hemp plant has been part of daily life in diverse cultures around the world. Not only the mother plant of various narcotics, it has been used to make paper or textiles, and for medicinal purposes.

Some value it so highly, that April 20 has been deemed "World Cannabis Day."

As Germany plans to legalize cannabis, it is high time to dispel the myths surrounding the herb and take a look at its rich cultural history.
The origins of hemp

Researchers agree that hemp originally came from Asia, with archaeological excavations in Japan, for example, showing the plant may have been harvested there for at least 10,000 years.

While prehistoric hemp remains have also been found in India, Thailand and Malaysia, discoveries in what is now China prove that people in the region produced textiles from hemp fibers from around 4,000 BC at the latest.

One of the earliest written records of hemp being used as a medicine comes from ancient China, a knowledge attributed to the mythical emperor Shennong and his book "Ben Cao Jing."

Revered in China as a founding figure and father of agriculture: Emperor Shennong recommended drinking cannabis tea

Said to have been compiled from oral traditions between about 200 BC and 220 AD, the book describes the medicinal and spiritual properties of hemp.

Not only does the herb allow communication with spirits, it also relaxes the body — though one risks seeing the devil if they take too much.
Was God talking about cannabis?

It is likely that nomadic trading peoples then exported the hemp plant to the West.

In 5th century BC, Greek historian Herodotus described the Scythian people who lived on the Eurasian edge of the western world, and where hemp also grew. Herodotus described burials where the Scythians would gather in a tent, throw hemp seeds onto red hot stones and then purify themselves in the steam bath.

"The Scythians rejoice in the sweat bath and howl with delight," Herodotus wrote. Incidentally, the Latin word cannabis is borrowed from the Scythian language.

Language is an important guide to the early history of cannabis. The ancient Chinese employed extra characters for male and female hemp plants respectively carrying the seeds and the fruits, proving the intensive preoccupation with the plant — and its importance in everyday life.

Cannabis also may have been part of the holy anointing oil that God instructs the prophet Moses to produce in the Old Testament.

In addition to cinnamon, myrrh or olive oil, "kaneh bosm" was to be used. Anthropologist Sula Benet theorized that this Hebrew word was later mistranslated into Greek. So instead of calamus or spice cane, as labelled in the German standard translation of the Bible, it actually meant cannabis.

In 2020, researchers found evidence to back the theory: on the altar of the Jewish temple at Tel Arad in Israel, they found cannabis containing the active ingredient THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which produces an intoxicating effect when smoked or ingested.

CALIFORNIA'S 'WEED NUNS' ON A MISSION TO HEAL WITH CANNABIS

Joint-smoking nuns

Based near the town of Merced in California's Central Valley, which produces over half of the fruit, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States, the Sisters of the Valley grow and harvest their own plants - cannabis plants.

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Basis for Europe's dominance

In Europe, hemp's narcotic properties hardly played a role in its early use. The abbess Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) describes hemp seeds in her work "Naturkunde" (Nature Studies) primarily as being digestible.

At that time, hemp was mainly in demand for textiles, shipping, or paper production.

In 1909, during the renovation of a Swedish church, five roughly 3,000-year-old tapestries from the Viking era were rediscovered, some of which had been made from hemp. Fine clothing used as burial objects were also made of hemp fibers.

Ancient hemp clothing was also crucial to letterpress printing. Johannes Gutenberg's revolutionary printing press churned out Gutenberg Bibles printed on paper made from clothing rags and hemp fibers.

This was a blessing for posterity: Hemp paper is more durable than paper made from vegetable pulp commonly used today, and the precious Bibles were more resistant to time.

The first two drafts of the American Declaration of Independence were also recorded on hemp paper. For the final copy, however, the Founding Fathers opted for parchment made from animal skin.


The Gutenberg Bible triggered a media revolution in Europe

What's more, Christopher Columbus' fleet of ships typically relied on sails, nets and ropes made of hemp, partly since it does not rot or go moldy when damp.
Dawn of the hemp era?

Hemp's importance for textile production was later superseded by cotton and petroleum-based synthetic fibers.

With the expansion of motorized shipping, easier-to-process raw materials such as cotton could be imported in bulk and at cheaper costs, and the hemp industry shrank over the long term. By the mid-20th century, even ropes and sails were no longer made from hemp but synthetic fibers.

Hemp's demise happened with the active support of Harry Anslinger, who as head of the top US Drug Enforcement Administration promoted the demonization of cannabis for over 30 years. The oil industry rejoiced, but the war on hemp failed in the long run.

Not only are increasing numbers of countries worldwide legalizing the use of cannabis, but companies are also betting on hemp.

Beyond the booming medical marijuana business, the plant is seen as a means to reduce carbon emissions when used to replace high-carbon fossil fuel products.

Rediscovering and developing such non-petroleum-based technologies may not be the sole cure-all, but hemp could at least be a building block to a more sustainable economy. As history shows, it has worked before.

CANNABIS: OPEN TO CULTURAL INTERPRETATION

Mythical plant

This is the hemp plant of legend. Intoxicating cannabis can be obtained from certain varieties, so its cultivation is strictly regulated in Germany. Unlike 200 years ago, hemp plants in the country are completely out of the public eye, paving the way for myths generated from the camps of supporters and opponents alike.

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This article was translated from German. It is an updated version of an article originally published on January 31, 2022.

Nicaragua bans 25 NGOs critical of government


The Permanent Commission for Human Rights has been documenting government repression of 2018 protesters 

(AFP/OSWALDO RIVAS) 


Wed, April 20, 2022

Nicaragua's parliament on Wednesday banned 25 NGOs critical of the government, including a human rights commission that documented state repression of a mass 2018 demonstration.

At least 355 people died in the heavy-handed response by security services to the 2018 demonstrations, according to rights organizations, while tens of thousands fled into exile.

"The decree cancelling the legal entities" of the 25 NGOs "is approved" said parliament vice-president Arling Alonso following a vote in the legislature dominated by the ruling party.

The decree was passed with 74 votes for, none against and 15 abstentions.

The interior ministry said the NGOs "have broken the laws that regulate non-profit organizations," having refused to register as foreign agents and inform authorities when receiving funding from abroad.

Created in 1991, the Permanent Human Rights Commission (CPDH) had documented state repression against protesters.

"There have been 45 years of permanent struggle, in which we have identified ourselves with the most vulnerable, the most mistreated," said CPDH director Mario Carmona on Tuesday.

Carmona claimed that the interior ministry refused to receive their financial reports.

Nicaragua has convicted around 40 opposition figures since the middle of last year, including seven presidential hopefuls planning to stand against President Daniel Ortega in last November's election.

Without any credible opposition to stand against him, former guerrilla Ortega, 76, won a fourth successive term in an election branded a "farce" by many in the international community.

More than 165 civil organizations have been banned by the government since the 2018 protests.

Ortega's government accuses his opponents of trying to overthrow him with the help of Washington.

bm/mav/gm/bc/st

Michigan state senator hits back at GOP colleague accusing her of 'grooming' kids

Christopher Wilson

·Senior Writer

Wed, April 20, 2022, 

Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow pushed back in a viral speech against the growing trend of Republicans labeling their Democratic opponents as groomers and pedophiles.

McMorrow responded Tuesday morning to accusations made in a fundraising email by Republican state Sen. Lana Theis that her Democratic colleague wanted to “groom and sexualize kindergarteners.”

“I didn’t expect to wake up yesterday to the news that the senator from the 22nd District had, overnight, accused me by name of grooming and sexualizing children in an email fundraising for herself,” McMorrow said at the beginning of her remarks. “So I sat on it for a while wondering: Why me? And then I realized: Because I am the biggest threat to your hollow, hateful scheme. Because you can’t claim that you are targeting marginalized kids in the name of ‘parental rights’ if another parent is standing up to say no.”

Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow. (Senate TV via Twitter)

Republicans have attempted to position themselves as the party of parental rights, with state legislatures across the country introducing a series of bills targeting the LGBTQ community, with those opposing the legislation being labeled as “groomers.” They’ve also targeted books that discuss race and gender while attempting to make it illegal for parents to seek gender-affirming care for transgender children. Prominent right-wing media figures have focused on anti-LGBTQ attacks in recent weeks.

“So then what?” continued McMorrow. “Then you dehumanize and marginalize me. You say that I’m one of them. You say she’s a groomer, she supports pedophilia, she wants children to believe that they were responsible for slavery and to feel bad about themselves because they’re white.”

McMorrow’s speech has been viewed over 9 million times in the less than 24 hours since she posted it to her Twitter account. During her comments, she talked about growing up being active in the church, working with her mother at a soup kitchen and the civil rights work of Father Ted Hesburgh, the former president of her alma mater, Notre Dame.

“I learned that service was far more important than performative nonsense like being seen in the same pew every Sunday or writing ‘Christian’ in your Twitter bio and using that as a shield to target and marginalize already marginalized people,” McMorrow said, emphasizing that she is a white, straight, Christian, suburban mom and that those promoting the attacks were using it to deflect from the fact that they weren’t working on the real issues.

“I know that hate will only win if people like me stand by and let it happen,” concluded McMorrow, who was first elected in 2018 and is on the ballot again this November. “So I want to be very clear right now: Call me whatever you want. I hope you brought in a few dollars. I hope it made you sleep good last night. I know who I am. I know what faith and service means and what it calls for in this moment. We will not let hate win.”

Theis’s rhetoric against McMorrow in the fundraising email sent out on Monday read, “These are the people we are up against. Progressive social media trolls like Senator Malloy McMorrow (D-Snowflake) who are outraged they can’t teach can’t groom and sexualize kindergarteners or that 8-year-olds are responsible for slavery.” She added that “enlightened elites” believe parents “must surrender to the wisdom of teacher unions, trans-activists, and the education bureaucracy.”

Theis targeted McMorrow and other Democrats in the Senate after they walked out of a session last Wednesday due to the content of Theis’s invocation, which the legislators took as a precursor to action against LGBTQ educators.

“Dear Lord, across the country we’re seeing in the news that our children are under attack. That there are forces that desire things for them other than what their parents would have them see and hear and know. Dear Lord, I pray for your guidance in this chamber to protect the most vulnerable among us,” said Theis, who is chair of the Senate Education and Career Readiness Committee.

Michigan state Sen. Lana Theis in 2019. (David Eggert/AP)

“The ‘forces’ are, of course, public school teachers, and the ‘things’ are the LGBTQ community,” tweeted Democratic state Sen. Dayna Polehanki. “To pervert the Senate Invocation in this way is beyond the pale.”

“Without sharing or repeating closed-minded harmful words from a sitting Senator under the guise of a ‘prayer,’ to every child in Michigan — you are perfect and welcome and loved for being exactly who you are,” added McMorrow on Twitter.

A number of GOP senators used the confirmation hearings of new Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to label her as soft on child pornography offenders, despite repeated analyses showing that Jackson’s rulings were within the mainstream of her fellow judges. When three Republican senators said they would vote to confirm Jackson, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called them “pro-pedophile.” The following day, she referred to Democrats as the “party of pedophiles.”

Greene’s comments and the general trend toward accusations of pedophilia echo the QAnon conspiracy theory, supported by Greene in the past, which alleges that former President Donald Trump was working to take down a powerful cabal of child traffickers typically portrayed as the Democratic elite. Believers in the debunked theory frequently allege that their political opponents support pedophiles. Those pushing the accusations have a large audience, as a recent survey from the Public Religion Research Institute found that 16% of Americans believed that “the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex-trafficking operation.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., addresses Trump supporters in Commerce, Ga., on March 26. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

McMorrow’s direct response is a contrast to what the national Democratic strategy has been to the increase of Republicans claiming they are a party of “pedophiles” and “groomers.” Vice News spoke to a number of prominent House Democrats last week about Greene’s comments.

“I don’t even really pay attention to anything she says because she has nothing rational to say. It seems to me to be a ridiculous allegation,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., a member of House Democratic leadership. “We’re focused right now on getting things done for everyday Americans: lowering costs, addressing gas prices and inflation. They can continue to peddle lies and conspiracy theories.”

“I see polling that shows that that outrageous characterization is landing with some folks,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., told the outlet. “But you also don't really want to give oxygen to the land of misfit toys, which is where this is coming [from].”

Britain's Johnson faces calls to apologise for India massacre



Bhuvan BAGGA
Wed, April 20, 2022

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces calls to apologise for a colonial-era massacre when he visits the Indian state of Gujarat Thursday, 100 years after as many as 1,200 people were killed protesting against imperial rule.

Last month saw the centenary of the Pal-Dadhvav massacre, when Indian historians say around 2,000 tribal people led by social reformer Motilal Tejawat gathered to protest against exploitation, forced labour and high taxes.

According to the Gujarat state government, British Major HG Sutton ordered his troops to open fire.

"Like a battlefield, the entire area was filled with corpses," it said. Two wells, it added, were "overflowing with bodies".

The state's official float at this year's annual Republic Day parade depicted the killings as the "untold story of bravery and sacrifice of the tribals", it said in a statement that put the death toll at 1,200.

Johnson -- who has been assailed by controversy over Downing Street parties during the coronavirus pandemic -- lands in the state's largest city, Ahmedabad, on Thursday at the start of a two-day visit to India.

"It was the British rule at the time when these killings happened so, if the British PM is coming here, he must apologise," Tejawat's grandson Mahendra told AFP.

"My grandfather was only running a campaign for the poor, harmless and illiterate tribals," added the 77-year-old.

"He must express regret if he feels what happened to the defenceless tribals was wrong."

- 'Killer government' -

Portraits of Johnson lined the streets of New Delhi ahead of his visit.

But relations between Britain and India have long been coloured by the legacies of colonial rule -- when London saw the world's second-most populous nation as the jewel in the crown of its empire but hundreds of millions of Indians chafed under its authority.

The Hindu nationalist government of Johnson's host, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, regularly emphasises the independence struggle as a vital component of India's national identity.

It has built giant statues of key independence leaders, and created a museum to one of them in Delhi's world heritage-listed Red Fort.

Modi is himself a former chief minister of Gujarat, under whose tenure a memorial was built to the massacre victims.

But Arun Vaghela, head of Gujarat University's history department, has little expectation the British prime minister would address the issue.

He has carried out field research at the site and said even 20 years ago residents were still finding old bullets lodged in trees and skeletons in deep wells, into which people had jumped to try and escape.

"The British records only show 40 to 50 deaths -- but when does any killer government, British or otherwise, ever truly reveal and acknowledge the number of people it has killed?"

Media reports say some of the protesters were armed and may have fired first, and that British authorities put the number of dead at 22.

According to Vaghela's figures, the toll is greater than the far better known Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in 1919, when between 379 and 1,000 people were killed, which overshadowed a state visit by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh to India in 1997.

But the Gujarat incident barely figures in India's independence narrative, and the victims' tribal status may have condemned them to a historical footnote.

Tribal people are outside Hinduism's caste system and many are still deeply poverty-stricken, living on the margins of society.

"Tribals are at the bottom of Indian social pyramid," said Vaghela. "Had something like that happened anywhere else, it would have been highlighted by the mainstream press and politicians for a long time."

And for some, the time has come to move on.

Veteran journalist Vishnu Pandya, author of a Gujarati-language book on revolutionary places in the state, has collected many oral accounts of the killings from the tribal community, where he says the incident is detailed in multiple folk songs.

"The British PM who is coming here wasn't even born at the time and he wouldn't know anything about the incident," he said.

"What is done is done, it's history and we need to look ahead."

bb/slb/dva/je

Cannabis '420' festival brings scent of freedom - and dollars - to Denver





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People dance and smoke during the Mile High 420 Festival in Denver, Colorado on April 20, 2022 (AFP/Patrick T. FALLON)

Laurent BANGUET
Wed, April 20, 2022

Tens of thousands of cannabis enthusiasts gathered in Denver on Wednesday to celebrate the ever-widening US legalization of recreational weed with plumes of pungent smoke, music... and a few grumblings about commercialization.

April 20 has become the national holiday for pot in the United States, as the date corresponds with the "420" slang name for marijuana.

In particular, Colorado's capital has become a magnet for enthusiasts, since the western US state became the country's first to vote to legalize recreational cannabis a decade ago.

They gathered for festivities on Wednesday afternoon in a park overlooked by the windows of the local Capitol building, where protests to push for decriminalization of marijuana sparked up in the 1990s.

Among the first to arrive at the Mile High 420 Festival -- billed as the world's largest free gathering of its kind -- was Michael Farwell, proudly carrying a giant oversized joint measuring around 15 inches (40 cm) long, thick as a chair leg.

"It's the biggest joint I've ever smoked -- or I'm about to smoke!" said the 25-year-old.

"It's like a six ounce joint, six-and-a-half-ounce joint... I don't know," he added, estimating the blunt had cost around $800 and took more than an hour to roll with the help of two friends.

Farwell made the pilgrimage from the East Coast state of Delaware, where cannabis is currently allowed only for medical use.

"It's my favorite day of the year. It's better than Christmas!" he said.

A cloud rises over people smoking pot as the clock strikes 4:20 pm 

during the Mile High 420 Festival in Denver, Colorado on April 20, 2022 

- Green gold and greenbacks -

Since Colorado green-lighted recreational cannabis, eighteen of the 50 US states, plus the capital Washington, have followed suit.

But it remains illegal at a federal level. And even in Colorado, the law technically still prohibits the smoking of marijuana in public places.

Still, festival attendees know that in reality they have little to fear from authorities, and made no effort to hide their favorite pastime.

Legal cannabis sales last year in Colorado -- a state of fewer than six million people -- reached $2.2 billion 

It is a long way from the more clandestine origins of this day, said Miguel Lopez, a pro-legalization activist and co-founder of the "420 Festival."

Back in 1995, activists gathered for "smoke-ins" in protest at the capitol, but had to watch out for police intervention or risk arrest.

Much has changed since then, and legalization went into effect in Colorado in 2014.

But Lopez complained that the festival and the wider legalized marijuana industry have taken a highly commercial turn.

"The message was strong about, you know, we want to legalize, but not at the discretion of legislators who want to just make money," he said.

The veteran activist pointed out that legal cannabis sales last year in Colorado -- a state of fewer than six million people -- reached $2.2 billion.

With that translating to $423 million in tax revenue in the state's coffers, in addition to indirect benefits such as tourism, it is little surprise that local officials now support the "420" movement.

"The grassroots didn't want it this way. The industry wants it. It's really overregulated, it's overtaxed," said Lopez.

"It really hasn't really freed up people, but it's just made another opportunity for people to come and profit, like oil and gas."

Lopez, a previous organizer of the festival, was recently ousted by a chain of specialty cannabis stores that have partially rebranded the event.

Since Colorado green-lighted recreational cannabis, eighteen of the 50 US states, plus the capital Washington, have followed suit 

- 'Freedom' -

Still, for Tammy Herndon, this day in the park with a joint in her mouth has a taste of freedom.

She lives in the conservative state of Georgia, where cannabis -- even for medical purposes -- remains illegal.

Hendon, 54, suffers from trigeminal neuralgia, a painful condition that some studies have shown can be relieved by cannabis.

A former Navy veteran, she travelled almost 2,000 miles to attend the festival.

"It was on my bucket list of things to do," she said.

"Georgia is Bible Belt, so there's no chance you'll ever be able to have the freedom to smoke there."

"I'm a disabled veteran. I'm retired from the Navy. If I like to smoke a joint and relax, I should be able to celebrate that."

ban/amz/bfm

PHOTOS AFP/Patrick T. FALLON