Chang Frick, founder of the right-wing populist site Nyheter Idag, appears regularly on SD’s web TV channel Riks. There, he has, among other things, dressed up in an Erdogan mask and chatted with the Turkish president.
January 18 published Riks a video with the headline “Is it Erdogan who rules in Sweden?” In the video, a person can be seen wearing a tracksuit and a mask depicting the Turkish president “I Erdogan. Damn Swedes. Don’t kid me. You can’t joke about Erdogan,” says the person who then takes off the mask and turns out to be Chang Frick.
In the segment, the presenter Richard Sörman says that the Swedish government thinks that the demonstration, where a doll representing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was hung upside down, was very serious.
“It’s nonsense. From beginning to end. When have you seen a citizen stand up for himself? They crawl for the sossas and now they crawl for Erdogan and embarrass Sweden in the coup. This doesn’t affect the NATO application one bit,” says Chang Frick in response.
The Sweden Democrats refer all questions about Chang Frick to Rik’s responsible publisher Dick Erixon.
Photo: Screenshot from Riks
– Erdogan is relevant because of the demands he makes on us that we change our constitution. We stand behind what we published, says Dick Erixon.
How do you see Chang Frick paying for right-wing extremist Paludan’s application for a demonstration permit?
– We hire people on a consulting basis to help make programs and he is one of those people. I take responsibility for what is said and done in those programs. What those people do in their spare time, he is a consultant and has no employment with us, we do not interfere, says Dick Erixon.
SD’s responsible publisher is not surprised by the information that Chang Frick paid for Rasmus Paludan’s demonstration permit.
– As I know Chang Frick, he likes to prank and provoke. There are a number of people who do and he is one of them. Putting out 300 kroner is not something you need someone else to do, but I assume it was his initiative.
Chang Frick himself has told DN that he would not encourage anyone to burn the Koran.
Is Chang Frick a suitable profile to include in your programs?
– We’ll see. We test different presenters and what is decisive is how the audience receives them. If the reasoning and discussions turn out well and if our audience likes it, that’s what we focus on.
Photo: Nicklas Thegerström
How do you see the consequences of Chang Frick’s actions?
– I think it was right that the previous government and the opposition agreed on a memorandum with Turkey and Finland, and that they show their good will to get into NATO. But then I have seen with growing irritation how Sweden is expected to lie flat and lick Erdogan’s feet and I do not accept that.
As a responsible publisher, have you considered Frick’s connections to the Russian regime loyalist TV channel RT for which he has worked in the past?
– I have been a freelancer myself. You take on a lot of different assignments and in the journalism industry it is not easy to find assignments. You do many different things. Chang Frick did something for them and it was a long time ago. Developments in Russia have become significantly worse since then. I don’t think you can gag people who do individual jobs that way, says Dick Erixon.
Chang Frick is also on SVT’s entertainment program Invandrare för svenska, IFS. Ebba Adielsson is program director at SVT and responsible publisher for the program:
– Chang Frick participates, as one of eight panellists, in one of eight episodes in season two of IFS. The programs were recorded a couple of weeks ago and are currently being post-processed. We have no comment regarding his involvement in the Koran burning, but will follow if new information comes. From what we know today, the action was not illegal.
