STOCKHOLM. I have lived in Sweden now for about 10 months, and during that time, I have come across one of the most puzzling and paradoxical institutions of Stockholm social life: the security doorman (or woman).
In such a law-conscious society, it is remarkable to me that some otherwise violent, reactionary citizens can become instant police (and in my following story, operating above the status of police), taking away other citizens’ rights like they were theirs to give in the first place.
Nowhere in Swedish law does it state that one must leave his or her rights, and dignity, at the coat check when they enter a nightclub or bar. Granted, I’m sure there are many pleasant, ordinary security guards doing what they’re supposed to do (guarding and securing other customers), and granted, there is a problem with inebriated Stockholm citizens on Friday and Saturday nights, but we all know it goes too far too often.
I would like to share my story, a glaring case of what can happen when violent people are given an authoritarian role and just how far things can spiral out of control. It may not sound too out of the ordinary for some, and this is a problem. But hopefully, it may scare the wits out of some…it is very unnerving to realize you can be detained and tortured without any means of defense, without knowing when you will be released, and without knowing why you are in such a situation.
This story presents a real picture of an otherwise silenced problem in Swedish society. People may excuse the security guards, maintaining that drunken people deserve what they get and know what they’re getting into if they choose to drink. But come on!
So, here it is…
I’m an English teacher here in Stockholm, and a few coworkers and I decided to enjoy a night on the town after our “end of the year party”. We piled into a cab and headed to Patricia, a nightclub in Soder. Admittedly, I was under the influence (my Blood Alcohol Content later registered around .7, which is about 5 beers), but sober enough to not show any signs to the outer door guards.
Upon entering, I witnessed 3 ”guards” harassing my companion, pushing him around, so I went up and grabbed my friend to help him out. That’s when they floored me and strangled me until I passed out. I still have no idea why these guards did this. I’m hoping to see any available video footage that may explain this reaction.
When I was assaulted for the first time, I was attacked from behind with no warning. One individual grabbed me around the neck from behind and choked me till I lost consciousness. The others punched and kicked me. When I awoke, I was cuffed and sitting with my legs sprawled out, with the same guard grabbing me around the neck. He squeezed again, while others hit me in the ears and side.
I called to my friends and other customers for help, but nothing could be done. I remember specifically asking this one couple to help me, but they could do nothing. I didn’t know what these people had planned for me, and I’ve never been strangled to unconsciousness before. A very scary situation, indeed.
I was dragged by the hair, ears, and cuffed hands to some back room, perhaps below decks but I am not sure. I was beaten about my side, neck, and face, while laying belly down on the dirty floor. Their speciality involved one individual standing on my claves while another stood on the back of my neck, almost full weight, and pulled my cuffed arms backwards above my head till we heard the “pop”.
At first, I kept saying “alright, I get the point, it hurts, now tell me why I’m here”. They told me to “shut the fuck up or we’ll kick your teeth in”. That was all I could get. No explanation. “OK”, I thought, “just hang in there and take the pain till they get it out of their systems”. But they wouldn’t stop. It was systematic, very planned, and they had done this before. They knew exactly how to cause pain without leaving marks.
Four to six of these guards mete out wicked kidney punches, neck-stands, full body weighted knees in the back, choke holds. This is what gets me: every 10-15 minutes, they’d change guards and work me over again, using the same procedures in the same order. I was not allowed to get up from lying on my belly. I was not allowed to use the toilet, or even speak.
At one point, I told them I needed to get home to my 1 year old daughter (it seemed it was about 4 am at this point… one and a half hours in detention!), and they responded with “if your daughter was here, I’d fuck her up, too” (they were kind enough to speak English). By this point, they thought it was a good idea to search me and find out who I was.
They took everything out of my pockets and placed it all on a table. All but my cell phone, which was taken and never returned. This item, they conveniently hid from the cops, even after a later check of the premises.
Finally, after about 2 hours, they told me the police were coming, so they picked me up from my lying position, and sat me down against the wall. Why was I finally allowed to sit up? Perhaps the police weren’t supposed to see me on the floor like that? I find out later that the police had been called around 10 times by my companions (who caringly waited outside the boat the entire time), had shown up at Patricia, and had been told by the guards that I wasn’t to be released yet. Is this legal procedure? Can nightclub guards give orders to uniformed police?
My friends were also not informed as to my location or my status. What follows was a long day at the hospital, documenting my injuries and checking my well-being, filing at the police station, and recovering.
The dodgy boat nightclub in Stockholm probably made a killing that night, and my brutal assaulters most likely slept soundly. So, what now? I am shocked and appalled. Really. Those words are not used lightly by me, as cliché as they sound. The inconsistency between what is law and what is allowed strikes me most.
The fact that the police were on my side, were so helpful, telling me step-by-step how to file for assault, while the assholes in the club continued to get paid for kicking the shit out of customers (pardon my language, but it is a suitable way to express my frustration, humiliation, and anger). Why did the police seem so incensed with the guards yet so unable to do anything? Why hasn’t this behavior been stopped, if it is so common and so damn illegal?
I hope to run with this story in the media. I hope find a decent lawyer and sue the club and the guards- whom I can easily identify- and walk away from this knowing that others find it unacceptable and are aware that condoned brutality, illegal detention, and human rights violations can happen in the Heart of Sweden. Buyers beware, you leave your rights with your handbags.
Email: mr_afm@hotmail.com