Prison for assault on far-right activists

Three women were sentenced to prison on Wednesday for assaulting the girlfriend of the spokesperson for the far-right Sweden Democrats.

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Martin Kinnunen and his girlfriend were walking near Gullmarsplan south of Stockholm in the late evening hours at the close of Sweden’s National Day on June 6th.

A group of people accosted the couple, who were thrown to the ground where they were kicked and hit with brass knuckles.

Two of the women were arrested the night of the attack, with a third being arrested two weeks later.

Both Kinnunen and his girlfriend sought treatment at a nearby hospital following the attack.

According to the court, there was no doubt that the assault was politically motivated.

Sentences for the three women varied between ten and twenty months.

While the women were convicted for assaulting Kinnunen’s girlfriend, they were acquitted of charges that they also beat the Sweden Democrat spokesperson.

In the eyes of the court, there was no doubt that Kinnunen was also attacked on the night in question, but the judges ultimately ruled that there was a lack of evidence indicating that the three women had also been responsible for assaulting the Sweden Democrat spokesperson.

“The prison sentence is positive, but it’s strange that the assault against me was thrown out by the court,” Kinnunen told the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.

In its ruling, the Södertörn District Court wrote that the attack against Kinnunen and his girlfriend was coordinated and planned.

The assault of his girlfriend, who had previously been an active member of the Sweden Democrats, was judged to be aggravated because the women had tracked her down before proceeding to kick her in the head while she was lying on the ground.

The women, aged 20-, 21-, and 25-years-old, have also been ordered to jointly pay 23,000 kronor in compensation ($3,000) to Kinnunen’s girlfriend.

During the time of the trial, Kinnunen said he has no desire to return to his job as the Sweden Democrats’ spokesperson, citing his wishes to avoid the risks that come with the position

“We don’t live a normal life; my girlfriend isn’t doing well at all,” he told DN.