BY CARL-ERIK ISACCSSON
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The Pathfinder bookstore here was attacked early in the morning July 2. A big newspaper box was thrown through the display window and landed on a shelf, destroying some books and causing damage to the shelf.

This was the fourth such incident in less than a year; the previous attacks on the bookstore took place August 15, October 5, and January 11. The attack on October 5 was observed by a witness who saw five skinheads throwing stones through the window. This time a witness saw two young men.

The recent attack on the bookstore happens as other attacks on free speech have taken place in Stockholm and Sweden lately. An art exhibition at the Historical Museum in Stockholm that had been condemned by several prominent businessmen and politicians as child pornography was attacked and destroyed on July 1. This act was carried out by a group of youth who left leaflets from the "National Youth," which calls itself a "Swedish patriotic youth organization" and says it will continue to take action against "destructive and degenerate art."

Birgitta Isacsson, the director of the Pathfinder bookstore in Stockholm, issued a press statement immediately after the attack on the bookstore on July 2. She was quoted in the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet saying that she considers it a political attack. "These forces who want to suppress the freedom of speech with violence must not be allowed to have their way," she added.

Catharina Tirsén from the Pathfinder bookstore and Ernesto Oleinik of the Young Socialists, one of the organizations that use the bookstore premises for political activities, were interviewed for half an hour about the attack on the bookstore and freedom of speech by Radio Nueva America, a Spanish-language radio in Stockholm, July 4.  
 
 
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