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Photographic evidence relieves man of urination fine

A 20-year-old man from Strängnäs in central Sweden who was fined for public urination has had his case overturned on appeal.

Published: 15 October 2008 08:57 CEST

A district court convicted the man of disorderly conduct and fined him 800 kronor ($110) for relieving himself near a petrol station in Eskilstuna last November.

But in arguing his case before the Svea Court of Appeal, the 20-year-old presented new evidence which convinced the court to relieve him of the fine.

The man showed the court of photograph of the crime scene: a patch of grass between a wall and a container on which the man urinated.

Upon seeing that the man’s offence had left no visible trace which could upset a member of the public, the court decided to acquit the man of all charges, according to several media reports.

The 20-year-old isn’t the only Swede who decided to answer nature’s call in public.

Last year 4,147 people were fined for public urination in Sweden.

OFFBEAT

Swedish police remove sculpture mistaken for suicide victim

Police on the island of Gotland removed a public sculpture from the Galgberget nature reserve near Visby on the grounds that it is just too creepy.

Published: 9 March 2019 16:50 CET
Swedish police remove sculpture mistaken for suicide victim
The gallows at Galgeberget. Photo: Artifex/WikiCommons
According to local news site Hela Gotland, someone was out for a stroll on Galgeberget (the Gallows Hill) on Wednesday when they saw what they thought was a body hanging after a suicide. Local police were contacted but when they went to investigate they instead found a sculpture by artist Jessica Lundeberg. 
 
The artwork, entitled ‘The Watcher in the Woods’, is a partially transparent plate sculpture that looks like a spooky little girl. 
 
 
Despite discovering that the suspected suicide victim was actually artwork, police determined that Lundeberg’s piece could scare others and thus took the sculpture down. 
 
“It was decided that if it were to remain, more people would likely be frightened in the same way,” Gotland police spokesman Ayman Aboulaich told Radio P4 Gotland. 
 
Lundeberg told Hela Gotland that the sculpture has been at Galgeberget since a public art project last summer and that this was the first time it had caused any concern. She said ‘The Watcher in the Woods’ was the only piece that was allowed to remain after the end of the project. But now it is there no more. 
 
 
Lundeberg has taken the sculpture back to her studio. While she hopes it will eventually return to Galgeberget, the artist told Hela Gotland it seems unlikely.  
 
She said that the sculpture was damaged by police. 
 
“It was ragged, dismantled and broken. I was horrified when I saw it,” she said. 
 
Police have reportedly promised to pay any necessary repair costs.
 
Although the person who reported the sculpture to the police has not spoken with the media, their jump to conclusions could perhaps be attributed to the nature reserve’s macabre history. Galgeberget is still home to gallows that were used to hang criminals for centuries. The last execution to be held at the site was in 1845, according to Hela Gotland. 
 
 
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