Three people were arrested on Wednesday during a skirmish between supporters of the far-right Sweden Democrats party and demonstrators trying to disrupt a party rally, police said.
The Sweden Democrats had just started their meet in the central town of Joenkoeping when opponents showed up in the town square with whistles and horns.
"We had to arrest three people. Two of them were temporarily taken into custody because they disturbed (the rally) with whistles and horns," Niels Eriksson of the Joenkoeping police told AFP.
The third person was arrested for throwing an object at one of the speakers, he said. According to local media, the object was a paper cup filled with water.
Polls have showed the staunchly anti-immigration Sweden Democrats could for the first time obtain more than the 4.0 percent of votes required to enter parliament after the September 19 general elections in Sweden.
Police were present at the rally.
"It's unfortunate, but needed. We would be attacked by leftwing and immigrant groups if they weren't here," Kent Ekeroth, the party's international secretary, told local news website jnytt.se.
"People don't seem to have respect for freedom of speech," he said.
Swedish Wire
