Norway's massacre and Mr. Breivik arguably provide a severe example of how nightmarish xenophobia can be, though my own experience seems to suggest that I too have seen some harsher aspects of this.
As the Courts are the supposed guarantor of an individual's rights, the importance of their conduct cannot be overstated. The manner in which a nation's courts interpret law is arguably the law, regardless of what may appear as text in any act or regulation.
In my recently decided court case, I lost, despite the fact that the Court found I indeed had been severely injured by my landlord's flat. The primary reason the Court gave was that they found that my landlord, Kopparstaden AB, the municipal housing firm here, had not been negligent. Local papers noted that this judgement was based upon the particular weight that was given to Kopparstaden's own testimony.
- This action is built on that it is precisely those employees who have misbehaved, so they are talking in their own cause."
FK added that "All witnesses are sworn, of course, but according to Ake SÃ ¶derman it's usually the case that the testimony of the parties to the proceedings is considered relatively lightly. Instead, it is independent witnesses, expert reports and medical and forensic evidence that should have the largest weight in law."
I personally saw as quite notable a part of the Court's decision which seems to decide that my apartment full of belongings cannot be considered injured. This finding appeared primarily based upon testimony that a Kopparstaden expert and three colleagues could not 'smell' any problem with a sole 'cushion'.
While such a finding seems remarkable in itself, more remarkable is that nowhere does the decision cite that two separate 'chief physicians' wrote medical certificates regarding the contamination of the property, one specifically ordering that I could "not use" it because of that contamination, the other supporting this. Perhaps even more remarkable still, the second 'chief physician' is a full professor and an expert brought in by Swedish courts themselves to advise the judiciary in these very kinds of questions. Yet, neither of their opinions or certificates was cited in the decision on my property.
To her credit, one Swedish journalist covering the story became particularly upset about the decision, asking "how can this be?"
I can only speculate on what those Swedish judges that decided the case were thinking, and - for assorted reasons - will not do so. However, at the beginning of this article was a paragraph where I did cite Swedish legal scholar Eric Bylander on the court system, and will again here, leaving it to readers to decide the relevancy of Bylander's observations...
Professor Bylander observed that political changes here might mean Swedish courts could be used as "a political arena in a way that hasn't been common in Sweden". Bylander also spoke of the potentially chilling effect that might have on those of foreign origins.
As I write this, some might describe my circumstances as extreme -- my health is gone, and Kopparstaden is trying to force my return to an apartment that medical orders prohibit, but, which the Court seems poised to effectively demand. Though the flat in question even made two of those inspecting it ill, and regulations appear to state it should be condemned, the local health department refuses to, and efforts are under way to attempt to force me there.
In my present flat I had coughed blood all winter. And while there are excellent laws to ensure a healthy living environment for Swedish tenants, to ensure their immediate relocation from a bad flat, I can only note that these laws' benefits seem beyond my reach. And, I am a journalist with an international voice, that fact alone depicting the harsh reality of present times, suggesting the possible implications for others of foreign origin here.
If it seems as though many of the circumstances described are difficult to even imagine, I agree...except perhaps in the context of another era.
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