- John Hron
John Hron (born
January 25 1981 inKungälv , diedAugust 17 1995 in Kungälv) was a Swedish boy of Czech origin who was tortured and murdered by four young men on August 17, 1995. The month before his death, John had won a bronze medal in the nationalcanoe ing youth championships.Murder
John was camping with a friend, Christian, by a small lake near the small town Kode in
Kungälv Municipality . Four young men, aged 15-18, appeared. The men, who had ties to theneonazi subculture, had bullied John for some time in school. That evening, John was told to say that he loves Nazis. He refused and was beaten until he did what he was told. The beating nevertheless continued and John was eventually thrown into the water. Soon after, they ordered John to swim back, which he refused. They then threatened to beat up John's friend instead, which made John return. Two hours of torture commenced. After he became unconscious, two of the attackers continued kicking him for several minutes. After that, they threw John's fractured body in the water. It quickly sunk. [ [http://www1.us.nizkor.org/hweb/people/h/hron-john/murder-of-john-hron.html Nizkor.org] murder narrative.] Christian managed to escape and managed to alert the authorities after having hitch-hiked to a nearby village.Aftermath
In the court, the 18 year old boy who was the main person behind the abuse was sentenced to eight years in prison for murder. He was released on January 1, 2001. A 15-year boy was sentenced to five years youth imprisonment for murder. The two others were sentenced to ten and four months in prison, respectively.The case received a lot of attention in Sweden. In 1996 Hron was posthumously awarded the
Stig Dagerman award for free speech. [sv icon [http://www.dagerman.se/ Stig Dagermansällskapet] ]References
* " [http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/0005/10/nazi.html Från skolkare – till kallblodig mördare] " Interview with one of the murderers, from
Aftonbladet , May 11, 2000
* [http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/h/hron-john/trial-sw.html Nizkor.org] Trial
* [http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/h/hron-john/appeal-sw.html Nizkor.org] AppealExternal links
* [http://www1.us.nizkor.org/hweb/people/h/hron-john/light-a-candle.html Nizkor.org] memorial
* [http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/1159/a/7706 regeringen.se] Speech by Prime MinisterGöran Persson at the Memorial Service for the Victims of the Holocaust,Stockholm Synagogue , 27 January, 2004
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