After the election, application came – now accused S for secret mosque deal

In Norrliden in Kalmar, a new mosque is to be built, with space for several hundred people. The plans have long been debated, but in the summer of 2025, building permits were finally granted. Critics have directed sharp criticism at both the process and what they claim is a lack of transparency, especially regarding financing and ideological connections. Now, new information suggests that the mosque construction is not just a local planning issue – but the result of a silent political exchange between the Social Democrats and the Muslim Association.

The former Member of Parliament for the Sweden Democrats, Thoralf Alfsson, now politically active within Future Kalmar, revealed in a lengthy interview with Samnytt that he had received information from several different sources that a deal had been struck before the 2022 election. The deal allegedly involved land being allocated to the Muslim Association if the Social Democrats retained power in the municipality – which also happened.

– After the 2022 election, a person with a background in North Africa contacted me. She had previously been politically active, and she told me that there had practically been a promise: if we win the election, you will get land for the mosque. She later faced threats and was forced to move from Kalmar, Alfsson said.

He does not want us to disclose the woman’s name, for security reasons.

The former SD politician explained that additional individuals with insight into Muslim associations in both Kalmar and the neighboring municipality of Nybro independently confirmed the same thing. One of them had previously served on the board of another mosque but had come into conflict with the association’s leadership.

– He contacted me and told me that the same setup had been used there. It involves political support in exchange for municipal land – which is deeply problematic, Alfsson said.

When the building permit for the mosque in Kalmar was granted in the summer of 2025, state media reported in an almost enthusiastic tone. Sveriges Radio described the decision as “a message many had been waiting for,” while SVT chose to focus on how the association had managed to raise money, under the headline “How they raised millions for a new mosque in Kalmar.”

The imagery was festive, with jubilant people and scenes of joy. Neither Sveriges Radio nor SVT raised any critical questions in their reports about the land deal, gender segregation in the building permit drawings, or possible political deals in connection with the 2022 election.

Application the day after the election

According to Alfsson, the application for land reservation from the Muslim Association was recorded on September 12, 2022 – the day after the municipal election.

– It’s so clear. Election day was September 11. When the election result is clear and S remains in power, the application is submitted. It shows that something was prepared. And you can also read in the documents that there had been contact with the municipal officials even before. It’s not speculation – it’s there in black and white, he said.

Alfsson believes that the application could very well have been written before the election, but it was held back until the outcome was certain.

S-boss Johan Persson denies everything

Municipal council chairman Johan Persson (S) in turn dismisses the allegations entirely when speaking with Samnytt.

Have you or anyone else within the Social Democrats in Kalmar had any contacts with the Muslim Association or its representatives before the 2022 election that involved support in exchange for land or building permits for a mosque?

– No, we have not. I had exactly the same attitude before the election as after: we treat all religious communities equally. It’s in the constitution. There is no room to treat anyone differently, Persson said.

This is a fundamentally important issue – a major symbolic and political land sale. According to the delegation order, such matters should go to the municipal council or the city council. But it did not.

Thoralf Alfsson, Future Kalmar

He refers to the fact that the issue of the mosque had been the subject of interpellations as early as the spring of 2022, where he expressed support for all associations to have their building projects tested according to the same rules.

– I said it in the city council before the election, and I have repeated it afterward. It has not changed, he said.

When asked why the application was recorded the day after the election, Persson replied:

– You should ask them about that.

“Why didn’t the case go to the city council?”

A central track of the criticism concerns how the decision on land sale was made. Instead of the issue being handled by the municipal council or the city council, it was handled by the planning committee – a smaller group of politicians.

– That’s wrong, Alfsson said. The planning committee consists of five people. This is a fundamentally important issue – a major symbolic and political land sale. According to the delegation order, such matters should go to the municipal council or the city council. But it did not.

Thoralf Alfsson. Image: Alfsson’s blog. Kalmar mosque website

Social Democrats’ Johan Persson defends the setup:

– This was not a major land sale in a legal sense. It fell below the amount that requires processing in the municipal council. And the detailed plan has already been discussed in the city council, so the debate has already taken place there.

The Muslim Association itself says that it is fake and made up.

Johan Persson (S), about the Muslim Association in Kalmar having any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood.

But Alfsson objects that similar matters – for example, a previous land sale to the Pentecostal congregation – were brought to the city council.

– It was exactly the same area, the same price tag, but then it went to the city council. It’s clear that they have tried to keep this as low-profile as possible.

Connections to the Muslim Brotherhood

According to documentation that emerged during the building permit process, the Muslim Association in Kalmar is affiliated with the umbrella organization FiFS – United Islamic Associations in Sweden. In his dissertation at the Swedish Defence University, researcher and Islam expert Samuel Egyptson has shown that several of FiFS’s affiliated member associations have connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.

– When I googled FiFS, I immediately found Egyptson’s dissertation. This is not something I made up. It is well-documented, Alfsson said.

When Johan Persson is asked about this, he dismisses the information.

– The Muslim Association itself says that it is fake and made up, Persson said.

And do you also mean that it is that way?

– Yes, I can only refer to what they say.

Why hasn’t the municipality demanded transparency in the financing of the mosque construction, despite involving large sums of money and concerns about foreign influence and extremist networks?

– They have themselves on their own websites and in various forums explained exactly how they raise money. The municipality has also, in the sales decision, accounted for having consulted with the authority for religious communities, where the Muslim Association in Kalmar is involved. And in that way, the whole thing is sort of settled, he said.

Gender segregation and silence

Another criticized aspect of the mosque project is that the drawings show clear gender segregation, with separate spaces for men and women. Alfsson said that in a conversation with the association’s chairman, Shadi Salameh, he was confirmed that men and women are not supposed to be in the same prayer room.

The left, which always talks about feminism and equality, are the ones pushing to make room for the most misogynistic and religiously conservative forces. It’s hypocrisy.

Thoralf Alfsson, Future Kalmar

– It’s tradition, he said. But it’s clear that it’s gender segregation. They first tried to play it down, but it’s crystal clear. Initially, women were supposed to be behind the men, now there will instead be a separate floor for women, Alfsson said.

Johan Persson declined to comment on the drawings in detail.

– You should take that up with the building permit handlers or the religious community itself. A detailed plan does not regulate such things, he said.

The media’s lack of interest

Both in the interview and on his blog, Alfsson expresses strong irritation that neither the local press nor the publicly funded public service actors have scrutinized the matter more closely.

– I have heard directly from journalists who left Barometern that they were not allowed to write anything that promoted me or Future Kalmar. The news editor at Barometern is also in a relationship with a Center Party member who works in the municipality. The Center Party is part of the majority with S. There are connections here that make no one dare to touch it, he said.

– The left, which always talks about feminism and equality, are the ones pushing to make room for the most misogynistic and religiously conservative forces. It’s hypocrisy, he concluded.

Municipal council chairman Johan Persson (S) expresses full confidence in the information provided by the Muslim Association – both regarding the financing of the mosque construction and the association’s potential connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement that is classified as a terrorist organization in several countries.

The crucial question is not whether the information in itself is credible, but whether Persson had a political incentive not to scrutinize it further – especially if the process contributed to securing the Social Democrats’ position of power in the municipality.

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