The police presence was high during the party at Sörböleskolan. Many counter-demonstrators had gathered.
Norran has previously reported on a split between different groups within the Eritrean diaspora in Skellefteå. Just over two years ago, an Eritrean party was held at Sörböleskolan, during which heated feelings flared up between the factions. One of the groups tried to stop the party, which they claimed was organised by pro-regime forces.
In a letter to municipal councilor Lorents Burman (S), it was alleged that the organisers of the party were an "extended arm" of the Eritrean regime and that they were using the municipality's premises for propaganda.
The accusations were rejected by the organisers. Norran has been in contact with three people of Eritrean background. They want to talk about their experiences of living in Skellefteå as opponents of the regime in their former homeland of Eritrea.
Paulo Antonio Giovanni told Norran about the threats he claims to be subjected to.
Paulo Antonio Giovanni has lived in Skellefteå with his wife and their three children for seven years, but has roots in both Italy and Eritrea. – I have received threats, hate, harassment, and sexual insults against me and my family, Paulo tells Norran.
According to the human rights organisation Human Rights Watch, Eritrea has been a dicatorship since the country gained independence in 1993, led by Isaias Afwerki.
There are no opposition parties and no elections. In the years before that, Eritrea fought a war of liberation for independence from neighbouring Ethiopia.
– The problem started when I did interviews for the BBC, and other international news outlets, about Eritrea. After that, videos of me have been spread on social media where pro-regime supporters talk about me and my body in a derogatory way and spread lies about me and my father, Paulo explains.
A screenshot from a published YouTube video where a German man insults Paulo by calling him a "pig". The video also shows a red cross over Paulo's face.
One of the people who has targeted Paulo is a man from Stockholm who describes himself as pro-regime – and claims to have an "extended arm."
Paulo interprets this to mean that someone could be sent to his home to harm him and his family. Norran has seen video clips from social media where a man speaks disparagingly about Paulo.
– Some threaten me via messages and others via social media, but all of them are people with ties to the Eritrean regime. These people are from Sweden and Germany, among other places. One man has personally told me that he has people monitoring me and my family, Paulo testifies.
Kjetil Tronvoll, a professor of peace and conflict studies at Oslo Nye Høyskole, has been researching Eritrea since the 1980s.
Kjetil Tronvoll, a professor of peace and conflict studies at Oslo Nye Høyskole, has been researching Eritrea for over 30 years. Tronvoll tells Norran that it has been revealed that the Eritrean consulate in Stockholm serves as a key organisation for coordinating the network of regime supporters.
Harassment and threats are often carried out directly by people in the diaspora, but in coordination with or on behalf of the regime.
Paulo has asked the police for protection and a restraining order – without success. Despite the evidence Paulo has, the police do not consider the threats to be clear enough according to Swedish law.
The evidence is considered too weak and the case has, in turn, been dropped. After the police dropped the case, Paulo filed an appeal for a review of the case, which Norran has seen.
Nasser Nuru, en av de skelleftebor som vittnar om hot från regimtrogna krafter.
Nasser Nuru knows Paulo and his commitment, even if he is not aware of the specific threats Paulo has been subjected to.
Nasser has been a resident of Skellefteå for nearly 40 years, and like Paulo, he is an outspoken opponent of the regime in Eritrea.
According to Nasser, threats and pressure are something that affect many who openly criticise the Eritrean regime. Nasser and Paulo have previously worked together by sharing information and contacting themedia and politicians, which has given them common ground in their political work.
– Initially, the threats came via email, now it's much more common for someone who supports the regime to approach you in town, Nasser testifies.
– I'm used to being subjected to this. Once I was going to throw away garbage at a recycling centre. Then a pro-regime person came and spat on me, another time they threatened that they knew where my daughter lived, and a third time I was followed by a car, Nasser recounts and continues:
– When I was spat on, my first thought was that I wanted to fight back, but I chose to go to the police to file a report. The case was dropped almost immediately by the police; the same applies to other reports I've made.
Nasser Nuru.
For Nasser, who has lived in Skellefteå for nearly four decades, those who threaten him are not strangers. They are people he has known for many years.
Initially, the vast majority of Skellefteå's Eritrean population formed a united community - a single association. But that unity fractured 14 years ago when the Eritrean association split, driven by conflicting views about developments in their homeland, according to those Norran has interviewed.
Professor Tronvoll explains that the lines between regular association activists and people with regime connections often blur. Some work directly for the embassy or serve as key operatives receiving compensation, while others support the regime voluntarily for ideological reasons. He also points to a troubling grey area where many people don't dare distance themselves from the regime, yet still participate in its activities - indirectly legitimising it through their involvement.
Nasser says it has been frustratingly difficult to get media and authorities to pay attention to these problems.
– Letters to editors of various newspapers have barely helped, he explains.
– For many years, we've tried the diplomatic approach - talking to the municipality, meeting with Riksdag members, even travelling to the EU Parliament in Brussels to raise the issue that we don't feel safe in our own adopted country. The response has been disappointing.
Nasser has participated in Eritrean demonstrations that have taken place in Skellefteå.
Over the years, demonstrations supporting Eritrean people's rights have taken place in Skellefteå - and Nasser describes situations where regime supporters have confronted and challenged the demonstrators' presence.
Tronvoll explains that this reflects a broader international phenomenon called transnational repression, where authoritarian regimes maintain control over and monitor former citizens who have fled to other countries.
– Eritrea is one of the dictator-ruled countries that practices transnational repression to the highest degree, he says.
– They even collect taxes from Eritreans living abroad.
In northern Sweden, Tronvoll explains, direct reprisals against family members still living in Eritrea have been common.
According to the Eritrean state, diaspora Eritreans have the option to pay a special income tax - the so-called "two percent tax" - ostensibly to contribute to the country's post-independence reconstruction. The regime presents this as voluntary for Eritreans living overseas, but many feel coerced into paying.
– Threats against family members in Eritrea have been a known problem, though it has decreased in recent years, Tronvoll notes.
– However, the consequences of not paying can still result in violence against oneself or harm to family back home.
He continues:
– Sometimes, for an imprisoned family member to be released, it's necessary to pay the state this tax - which hardly makes it as voluntary as they claim.
Awet Negasi, 20, wants to speak for those who cannot. But he knows he needs to be careful.
– There is no future in Eritrea, says Awet Negasi about the country where he was born.
Awet fled Eritrea at age eleven. Now 20, he has lived in Skellefteå for three years, leaving behind family and friends for the safety of Sweden.
In Sweden, Awet can at least make his voice heard - which he wants to do, even knowing the risks involved.
– I have different freedoms here in Sweden than I would have had in Eritrea - but if I express my political opinions too much here, I know it can affect my family in Eritrea, Awet says.
– I want to speak for all the others who cannot, but I know I need to be careful.
– My family doesn't talk about politics in Eritrea. Regardless of whether they want to discuss politics or not - they don't express themselves. It could be dangerous for them, so they choose not to talk about it at all.
Awet Negasi hopes that his family in Eritrea will be able to move here to Skellefteå.
During his time in Skellefteå, Awet has not faced any direct threats and has not needed to file police reports. He now hopes his family will be granted Swedish residence permits so they can build a future together in a freer country.
Is there a fear of coming forward in the media?
– I have nothing to lose. I will continue to act through legal channels and make my voice heard. Right now, I am oppressed by my own country's regime. If I ever choose to be silent, I know I will live in peace, but I refuse to be silent.
Norran contacted the Eritrean embassy in Stockholm by phone and email to provide an opportunity to respond to the criticism, but received no reply.
Norran also reached out by phone to Skellefteå residents known to support the Eritrean government, but they declined to answer questions about their perception of the political situation in Skellefteå.