Local.se A senior Sweden Democrat in Svenljunga municipality in western Sweden has a long criminal past and has previously served as a chapter head in the notorious criminal gang Bandidos. "On paper I look like a horrible person," 42-year-old Micael Persson said to the local Borås Tidning daily.
Persson was previously president of the Bandidos Borås chapter and has served several long prison sentences. According to a report in the newspaper in 2007 he was the only member of the chapter entitled to wear the Bandidos vest indicating full member status.
He features 11 times in the criminal register and has among other things, served four and a half years in prison for serious drug offences, attempted aggravated drug trafficking and weapons violations.
He did not feature on the Sweden Democrat candidate lists for the 2014 election as he has recently moved to the area. He claimed his place on the powerful 9 person municipal executive committee after he was directly nominated by the party.
The board members have since been confirmed by the municipal council. Persson claimed that he began to see the error of his ways four years ago while serving a two year prison sentence for narcotics offences. He explained to the newspaper that while he doesn't regret his time with the Bandidos he realized that he no longer wanted to remain an outlaw.
The 42-year-old stated that his criminal past is known both to the local party and to several members of the national organization, he is uncertain whether he will be able to retain their support.
The man's background was however unknown to a Centre Party member of the executive committee.
"It's really damning. This I did not know at all," she said to the newspaper.
Bandidos is an international motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate. It is estimated to have 2,400 members worldwide, located in 22 countries. The gang became established in Sweden in 1994.
The gang was involved in the so-called "Great Nordic Biker War" (1993-1997) which resulted in 11 murders, 74 attempted murders and 96 wounded members of the opposing gangs. In 2009 Bandidos Sweden president Mehdi Seyyed was sentenced to nine years imprisonment for attempted murder after he bombed two cars in Gothenburg.