SUMMARY IN ENGLISH
CONTRA # 2 1997
Religious Freedom in Sweden
Times were tough for catholics in Sweden for a long time after the
reformation. Contra publisher Tommy Hansson has studied the archives and
describes the background of the execution of the mayor of his home town
Södertälje, Zacharias Anthelius, in 1624. The mayor was beheaded
for Catholic inclinations.
What happens in Israel?
Contra correspondent Joakim Förars discusses the development towards
the background that the Likud party on January 15th this year decided
to give in on its previous efforts to create a strong Israel. In spite
of all the violations of the agreement between PLO and Israel the Likud
government decided - as opposed to traditional Israeli stubornness - to
continue discussions with the Arafat government. This shows weakness,
which definitely will be a new kind of threat to Israel.
The case Holm vs Sweden
Holm vs Sweden. On the case in the European Court of Human Rights where
Contra editor C G Holm won a decisive victory in 1993. Since then, the
Swedish government is asked by the European Council of Ministers of Justice
every six months what they have done in order to change the legislation,
so that the whereabouts of the Holm case will not be repeated in the future.
The answer has this far been that the matter is considered by the government
combined with a request for postponement of measures. If the Swedish Press
Law (a part of the constitution) shall be changed this cannot take place
until 1999 - or possibly 2003 if the government does not present a bill
before February 1998.
Per Ahlmark attacks socialism and the late Olof Palme
Former deputy Prime Minster Per Ahlmark has written a most important book
on democracy and socialism. It is a very eloquent attack against the late
Prime Minister Olof Palme, stating that no decent democrat should keep
quiet about the undemocratic leanings of Mr Palme. Mr Ahlmark also discusses
two important facts from US political research: 1) Democratic governments
have never started war against each other 2) Communist dicatorships have,
during this century, caused more deaths in peacetime, than all wars (communist
or non-communist) combined! Mr Ahlmarks refers to the research of Professor
Rudolph J Rummel, now living in Hawaii.
Anatoly Sharansky - hero of the cold war
Heroes of the Cold War. This time Anatoly Sharansky, the Ukrainian Refusenik
who was exchanged for Soviet spies, emigrated to Israel and now is Minister
of Industry and Trade. Sharansky was one the leading Jewish dissidents,
and one of the founders of the movement for emigration to Israel in the
1970s.
Will Idi Amin get back to power in Uganda?
Luis M. Antunes has visited Uganda. In Uganda four rebel movements wage
military campaigns to topple the Museweni government. One of the best
organized of these movements is the West Nile Bank Front, fighting to
establish a fundamentalist moslem government in Uganda (which to a large
extent is a Christian nation). In the background of this movement you
find the former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, now living in exile in Saudi
Arabia (after having spent his first years in exile in Libya)
When KGB controlled the Estonian Lutheran Church
The editor of Eesti Päevaleht (the Estonian Daily, published in Estonian
in Stockholm since 1945) Ülo Ignats reports on a new book based on
KGB documents. The documents reveal that the Estonian Lutheran Church
was completely controlled by Soviet agents for most of the time Estonia
was occupied by the Soviet Union (1944-1991). At a conference arranged
by the Estonian Lutheran Church in Tallinn in 1949 32 of 44 delegates
were agents of the KGB! Unfortunately the documents, which are published
in Estonian in a new book by Indrek Jürjo, does only cover the earlier
part of the Soviet occupation. Most of the documents covering the last
years of the occupation were destroyed by retreating communists or transported
to the KGB in Russia before Estonian independence in 1991.
Olympic Games without taxpayers subsidies
Contra correspondent in Sydney, Ron Westin, reports on the preparations
for the Olympic Games of the year 2000. These are the games that will
cost the taxpayers nothing, as all the operations are financed and managed
by private enterprise.
