IV
The whole of Tallbacka flared up the day the trial was concluded. The attack against the man who had exposed himself in the schoolyard twenty years before and been sentenced to a fine was the first of nine acts of violence against alleged paedophiles. The spate of criminal violence was in each case claimed to be an exertion of reasonable force.
Three of the mob attacks, all of which involved grievous bodily harm, led to the death of the victims.
The chief investigator (CI): I will start the interrogation now. Bengt Soderlund (BS): Fire ahead.
CI: The questions concern the events that followed the throwing of the petrol bombs. BS: Aha.
CI: I'm unhappy about your attitude.
BS: What would seem to be the trouble? CI: You appear sarcastic.
BS: If you don't fancy my answers I wouldn't half mind leaving now.
CI: We'll both stay here. I'm prepared to carry on for as long as it takes. This session will be finished faster if you reply to my questions properly. BS: So you say.
CI: What happened after the last bottle was thrown?
BS: The house caught fire.
CI: What did you do?
BS: I read aloud.
CI: What did you read?
BS: A court indictment.
CI: Pull yourself together, man!
BS: I read out a court's judgement.
CI: What judgement would that be?
BS: About the father from Strangnas. He shot a paedophile who'd killed his daughter. It was what the court said about him.
CI: Why did you read that?
BS: Because society thought he did the right thing when he shot the paedophile. Get it? These perverts must be eliminated.
CI: After you'd read this, what did you do?
BS: I noticed that Flasher-Goran had jumped out. From the kitchen window.
CI: Then what did you do? BS: Set Baxter on him.
CI: You set your dog on him?
BS: Sure.
CI: And what did your dog do?
BS: Bit the fucker.
CI: Describe.
BS: Bit his arm, thighs. Had a couple of good goes at his face.
CI: For how long?
BS: Until I called Baxter off.
CI: Yes, yes. For how long?
BS: Two minutes, maybe three.
CI: Make up your mind.
BS: More like three. Yeah, three.
CI: And then what did you do? BS: We left.
CI: You left. Where did you go?
BS: Home. And we phoned for the fire brigade. That place was going like a bomb and we didn't want it to spread. It was fucking well next door, you know.
Goran from Tallbacka did not survive his injuries, notably a bite across his throat. The fatalities also included a man in Umea, who had two previous convictions for sex offences. Passing by a playground on the edge of the town, he was set upon by four teenage boys wielding pieces of iron piping, and beaten to death.
The chief investigator (CI): I will start the tape recorder now. Ilrian Raistrovic (IR): Cool.
CI: Are you feeling better now?
IR: Yeah. I just needed, like, a break.
CI: We'll carry on then.
IR: Yeah, sure. No fucking problem.
CI: Did you hit more often than the rest of the gang?
IR: Dunno.
CI: That's what the others said.
IR: Must be OK then.
CI: Why did you hit him?
IR: Fucking peddo, he was asking for it.
CI: Peddo?
IR: Like he'd been at two small chicks, touched their tits, stuff like that. He had kids himself. They were his kid's pals, right?
CI: How did you hit him?
IR: Like, I hit. At him.
CI: How many times?
IR: Dunno.
CI: Try to guess.
IR: Like twenty. Maybe thirty.
CI: Until he died. IR: Yeah, I guess.
In Stockholm, two days later, a particularly gross act of violence was perpetrated against a drunk, who was surrounded by a group of shouting young men equipped with baseball bats.
The chief investigator (CI): Where were you sitting? Roger Karlsson (RK): On the other bench.
CI: What were you doing there?
RK: I was watching him. I know that guy. He's at it all the time. CI: At what?
RK: Doing it to females. Little ones, CI: What did he do?
RK: He screamed at them, there were three coming along. Calling them names. Whores.
CI: He shouted at them that they were whores? RK: He tried to grab their arses when they passed.
CI: Did he do it?
RK: He was too fucking slow. But he did try.
CI: What did you do?
RK: They ran away. He scared them. He always scares females.
CI: But what did you do?
RK: Let him have it. The bat. In his belly.
CI: Were you alone?
RK: Fuck, no. The others came along.
CI: What others?
RK: There were, like, some of us. Waiting, see?
CI: Did everyone bring a weapon?
RK: We all had bats.
CI: What did he do when you first hit him?
RK: He shouted something like, what's that you're doin'?
CI: What did you do?
RK: I shouted back. Told him he was a perv.
CI: And then what happened?
