By Ashley Stanislaus
On Friday April 7, 2017, an attack took place on Drottninggatan (Queen Street), a busy shopping area of in Stockholm, Sweden. A hijacked beer truck was stolen around 3pm that afternoon and without any specific target driven through the shopping area, resulting in the death of 41 year old Chris Bevington; a British citizen; an 11 year old schoolgirl; one other Swedish citizen, and a Belgian citizen [1]. There were also 15 injuries. Hours after the attack was carried out, two suspects were arrested and taken into custody. The arrest of the first man was later revoked because the allegations against him were classified as invalid. [2]
One would expect that the man would be released after the allegations brought against him were revoked, but alas he was not. Unfortunately, the authorities opted to keep him detained in a detention center in Sweden because of his role in a previous explosion incident in Sweden. The second man however, has been identified as the culprit of this crime. His name is Rakhmat Akilov, a 39 year old from the central Asian republic of Uzbekistan who supposedly was recruited by the Islamic State. The Prime Minister of Uzbekistan stated that Akilov had a history of encouraging other Uzbeks to travel to Syria to fight alongside the militant group. [3]
What is most alarming about this attack is Akilov’s motive to commit such a heinous crime. On April 11, 2017, he gave a confession, which his lawyer relayed in courtroom before a judge, taking full responsibility for the crime committed. Akilov claimed that the direct order (from ISIS) to carry out the attack was result of the bombing that was happening in Syria. He stated simply, “The bombing in Syria needs to stop [4].” Even though this confession indicates one contributory factor for Akilov’s motive, one wonders if there might have been additional reasons for his actions.
The New York Times,has since, noted that the militant group by whom Akilov claims to have been recruited did not actually take responsibility for either him or the attack [5]. This raises the question as to whether supporting ISIS was really Akilov’s motive at all or if there was a deeper reason behind his actions. The events that led up to this attack need to be identified. Prior to this event, Akilov immigrated to Sweden to find work to support his family in 2014 and applied for residency. However, he was denied in June 2016 [6]. After being denied, he was then ordered back to his home country in December 2016 but later disappeared and put on “look out” by the police [7]. With the background information provided, one would think that Akilov might have committed this crime because of his anger toward the country who denied him residency rather than his loyalty toward the Islamic State.
Sweden’s reaction to the attack has been appropriate. There has been public mourning for those who were killed and injured with the Prime Minister Stefan Lofven stating publicly, “We are thinking about the victims — their families and friends — and those who were injured [8].” This attack angered some Swedes as well, as they have the right to be. For example, the Princess of Sweden stated to reporters, “We must show a huge force, we must go against this…Swedish society is built on huge confidence, a sense of community [9].” There was also a sense of resilience as well when the Prime Minister told reporters, “If this is a terrorist attack, terrorist want us not to live normally…But that is what we are going to do. So terrorist can never defeat Sweden. Never [10].”
In conclusion, this attack was by far the worst terrorist attack that Sweden has faced yet. However, the way in which they handled it with resilience and pride not only shows the world how strong they really are in times of crisis, but also how much pride they take in being the country that they are.
- Stelloh, Tim and Vladimir Banic. “Sweden Truck Attack Suspect Was Denied Permanent Residency.” NBC News Network, 9 Apr. 2017. Sun. 16 Apr. 2017.
- Nyberg, Per and James Masters. “Sweden terror suspect ‘confesses’ to Stockholm attack.” CNN. Cable News Network, 11 Apr. 2017. Sat. 15 Apr. 2017.
- Chan, Sewell. “Suspect in Stockholm Attack Was an ISIS Recruit, Uzbek Official Says.” The New York Times, 14 Apr. 2017. Sun. 16 Apr. 2017.
- Simon, Jake Wallis, Thompson, Paul and Will Stewart. “‘I am a Muslim and I support ISIS’: Stockholm terrorist CONFESS and tells police ‘attack was REVENGE for bombing in Syria.” Daily Mail.com 11 Apr. 2017. Sun. 16 Apr. 2017.
- Chan, Sewell. “Suspect in Stockholm Attack Was an ISIS Recruit, Uzbek Official Says.” The New York Times, 14 Apr. 2017. Sun. 16 Apr. 2017.
- BBC. “Sweden attack: Uzbekistan ‘warned West of IS link.’” BBC News Network, 14 Apr. 2017. Sun. 16 Apr. 2017.
- Ibid.
- Master, James, Said-Moorhouse, Lauren and Ray Sanchez. “Stockholm truck attack kills 4; suspect held on suspicion of terror.” CNN. Cable News Network, 8 Apr. 2017. Sat. 15 Apr. 2017.
- Huuhtanen, Matti. “Truck attack angers Swedes, raises questions about policies.” ABC News Network, 8 Apr. 2017. Sat. 15 Apr. 2017.
- Master, James, Said-Moorhouse, Lauren and Ray Sanchez. “Stockholm truck attack kills 4; suspect held on suspicion of terror.” CNN. Cable News Network, 8 Apr. 2017. Sat. 15 Apr. 2017.
