STOCKHOLM, June 5. /TASS/. Double standards in human rights, particularly when reviewing actions of authorities in different countries taken to crack down on unrest, are twice as detrimental, the Russian embassy in Sweden blasted Stockholm’s reaction to mass protests against police impunity in the United States. Swedish reporter Nina Svanberg was injured in the protests when covering them for Sweden’s Expressen newspaper.
"When the local public (facing administrative punishment risks for violating well-known coronavirus restrictions) holds mass demonstrations in front of the American embassy in Stockholm’s central square, this establishment still only addresses Washington with harmless friendly reassurances. And this is happening when Swedish journalist Nina Svanberg was among those injured in the US protests," the embassy said via its Facebook account. "We can only guess where all this proverbial human rights protection pathos is, which Swedish officials use to furiously attack some countries in case demonstrators clash with law enforcement officers there."
On May 30, Svanberg was covering a protest in Minneapolis when the police shot a rubber bullet at her which led to an injury.
"Double standards are always bad. Meanwhile, double standards in human rights protection are twice as detrimental. It is a shame that Stockholm is evidently yet to come to this simple conclusion. Well, it is much easier to lecture others how to behave than to be a true political tuning fork, not a fake one," the embassy noted.
Widespread unrest has engulfed many US states over the death of an African American Minneapolis man named George Floyd, who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck and choked him to death during his arrest. On May 26, all officers involved in the deadly arrest were fired. On May 29, the policeman in question, Derek Chauvin, was arrested on third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. However, on June 3, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison upped the charge against Chauvin to second-degree murder. The three other officers involved in the fatal incident were arrested as well and are now facing charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
To counter the riots, local law enforcement is often supported by the National Guard. So far, 40 cities, including New York, have enacted a curfew.