Featured artists: Sture Källberg / Björn Granath / Narren /
Klararevyn / Finn Zetterholm & Hasse Alfredsson & Tage
Danielsson / Gösta Ekman / Lena Nyman / Monica Zetterlund / Lilla Klara /
Gösta Bredefeldt / Dramatiska Teatern / Olof Buckard / Robert Karl
Oskar Broberg / Fria Proteatern / Jan Myrdal
Swedish vocals, spoken word
International relevance: -
Journalists Jan Guillou and Peter Bratt
caused great upheaval in May 1973 when they exposed a Swedish secret
intelligence service, IB (most often refered to as Informationsbyrån,
”the information bureau”), unknown even to the Swedish Parliament
and Social Democratic prime minister Olof Palme – or so he said... IB kept files on citizens with left-wing affinities, used spies in
foreign countries, was responsible for a break-in at the Egyptian
embassy in Stockholm, and had ties to CIA and the Israeli
intelligence service Shin Beth. The disclosure soon took on the
size of a scandal, comparable to Watergate only with Swedish
proportions. Guillou, Bratt, journalist Håkan Isacsson and
photographer Ove Holmqvist were arrested for espionage, and the three
writers were sentenced to jail – itself a remarkable turn of
events. There were so many irregularities and odd twists that it's
impossible to give a sensible brief summary of the so called IB affair that
remains one of the biggest political scandals ever in Sweden.Needless to say, a
lot has been written about it ever since and it still surfaces as a hot topic every once in a while.
In December 1973, 4,000 people showed
up at a manifestation against IB and the jail sentences, and for free
speech and freedom of the press. An impressive amount of actors such
as Gösta Ekman, Lena Nyman and Björn Granath, comedians and showmen like Olof
Buckard and Hasse Alfredsson & Tage Danielsson, leftist debaters
like Jan Myrdal, theatrical groups like Klararevyn and Narren, and
artists such as Finn Zetterholm, Robert Karl Oskar Broberg, Fria Proteatern and world renowned jazz vocalist Monica Zetterlund
appeared on stage during the five hour meeting that was recorded and trimmed
down for LP release on MNW in 1974. While its value as a historical
document is undeniable, the relevance to a foreign
listener is minimal, due to lengthy spoken word sections and mostly uninteresting music.
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