Thread by @AndreiaSaveSwe

About the now famous secret FB group that is critical of Sweden's Covid strategy: I am a member of MEWAS. In Sweden I am what many call "a threat to democracy" & "a traitor".

(Thread)

I have been a member of MEWAS since as long as I can remember. Just like me & many others, MEWAS has been critical of Sweden's Covid strategy since the very beginning of the pandemic, when we saw people flooding in from countries with widespread Covid, completely unchecked.

One of the very first interviews I did on international media was in my own country, Portugal. I was interviewed on TV by @SICNoticias, about what I was seeing here. I explained how at my work at the preschool, even if parents had Covid, they could still leave their kids to me.

Not that it was much of a problem actually, since for the whole spring of 2020, people in Sweden couldn't in practice get tested. Testing capacity was so low that only ppl being hospitalized were tested for Covid19.

Here's one of the first times I got interviewed by international media, about my situation at work ⬇️

insider.com/sweden-prescho…

I spoke on portuguese TV about how restaurants were open, shopping centers were open, schools were operating pretty much as normal (hand-washing & distance were the precautions to follow). I also talked about there not being any #TestTraceIsolate at all

At the end of that interview, I got contacted by some concerned family members & friends, saying "Andreia, I know what you're seeing around you is outrageous, but please be careful, you can suffer consequences for speaking about what many people surely don't want mentioned"

My first reaction was "come on, I know 🇸🇪 is acting really strangely right now, but things don't work like that here, there's a lot of respect for ppl's freedom of speech & for ppl having different opinions". "So typical of my family who lived under dictatorship before" I thought

I continued speaking to international media, for example Newsweek, CNN, Business Insider, Le Figaro, NRK, RAI Itália, Sky Itália, etc

At the same time, me & others protested several times in Stockholm to "Change strategy, save lives, save Sweden"

Here's me & Keith for example

I remember that on that day we had a moment of silence for the (then) 5000 Covid deaths in 🇸🇪. A guy came running towards us & screamed. I wanted to cry. I could cry now just thinking of it. I felt so hurt & disappointed. I respect ppl didn't agree w/ us but I didn't expect that

Other people passing by & seeing us in silence, wearing masks & holding signs saying "Change strategy" thought it appropriate to scream "well go back to your countries if Sweden is so bad". Others screamed "heja Sverige! Heja Tegnell". I respected it, they didn't agree with us.

In other occasions when we were protesting, people even decided to spit at us. When I told that to my family they said "please stop protesting, come back. You don't wanna get in trouble for a country that's not even yours". But I was determined to continue.

Article on Norwegian media about people spitting at us when we protested ⬇️

nrk.no/urix/sverige_-…

I was comforted by some people who talked to me at our protests, like a doctor that stopped briefly & told me "I know what you're talking about, I'm seeing it with my own eyes, please continue raising your voices about what's happening". He ran away very quickly afterwards.

Fast-forward to yesterday: Sweden's Radio published an article about "a secret group on Facebook that is critical of Sweden's Covid strategy & tried to influence Sweden's interests abroad".

I never thought I'd see that day come

The Swedish media hasn't touched MEWAS & similar groups to hear us out about our demands for Sweden to follow science. I always expect they'd ignore us forever. I was wrong.

In the article we are portrayed as dangerous conspiracy theorists speaking badly about Sweden.

I mean, we have a Public Health Authority who denies that masks work & still to this day refuses to admit #COVIDisAirborne, claiming constantly that "distance is the most important"... But we are the dangerous people spreading lies, right? Priceless.

Many of those who loved that article by Sweden's radio called us "traitors", claimed the names should be made public & some even wrote we should be sent to Russian work camps, because how DARE we say things to international media, that might damage Sweden's image?

The most surprising part though, was the fact that a go-to expert & "information embassador" who even got a medal from the king for her services during the pandemic, was interviewed claiming that such groups are a "threat to democracy"

The most unbelievable part though, is that the Public Health Authority itself retweeted those thoughts of hers (!). We couldn't believe our eyes, but then again, FHM has lost all credibility in many people's eyes as it is, so this is just a confirmation of what we already thought

I now understand why my boss told me when I went to her to talk about my activism against Sweden's strategy "you know Andreia, in Sweden we have politicians who make decisions. It's not good to try to change things that can't be changed". I was shocked then, not so much now.

I understand that Sweden is a small country which has good reputation abroad, so Sweden's image is very valuable. But should we really be holding back from speaking up, if it damages Sweden's image?

What's more important: working to create a good reality or to maintain a facade?

I'm just a 26 yrs old naive portuguese girl. I have no kids to think about, no career prospects in 🇸🇪 to care about, no financial dependancy to a job. I'll keep talking. But how many will get scared into silence? How many will dare to take such risks?

Is that good for democracy?