Radio Sweden removed critical wording about the King
Hana Al-Khamri drew a parallel between the Swedish and the Saudi King in her "Sommarprat" (Summer Talk) where she claimed that the King opposed female succession to the throne.
Expressen quotes SvD newspaper, which writes that Radio Sweden cut out the wording. SvD has seen email conversations between the channel and Al-Khamri.
This despite several critical statements from the King himself over the years.
- I demand that SR publishes the version of my "Summer Talk" that contains the deleted wording about the Swedish King, says Al-Khamri.
The sentence deleted said by writer Hana Al-Khamri, who grew up in Saudi Arabia where she worked as a journalist, was:
"How is it that both the Swedish King, Carl XVI Gustaf, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Saud opposed the introduction of female succession to the throne?"
The wording was cut at the last moment.
"Despite my protests and despite a series of source references, the program was broadcast without the question about the Swedish King", writes Hana Al-Khamri on Instagram after SR's decision. She told to SvD that she is very surprised by the journalistic decision and experiences it as an intervention in her program.
Marie Jeanette Löfgren, responsible publisher at Radio Sweden, says:
- It is clearly not a matter of not being able to discuss the King or his views on the succession to the throne. That's how you formulate yourself. The King said in interviews when it was introduced that he preferred a man on the throne but that he had nothing against a woman if there was no man. In Saudi Arabia, they rule the country with almost unlimited power, where female succession to the throne has never been discussed. There, the monarch has basically unlimited power, in contrast to here, where the King has no power.
Hana Al-Khamri says about the explanation, that the reasoning is bizarre.
Sveriges radio tog bort kritisk formulering om kungen _ Nyheter _ Expressen
Translation
Content critical of the King was cut from Sommarprat
At the beginning of August, discussions resulted in the sentence remaining, but on the evening of August 10 – barely two days before the program was to be broadcast – Radio Sweden heard back with a new message, which SvD was the first to report on:
"We will broadcast the version where this sentence is removed", writes an editor at Radio Sweden in an email to Hana Al-Khamri, according to SvD:
"We need to stick to what is correct and it is not correct to say that the King has opposed the introduction of female succession."
On August 12, the cut version was broadcast, against Hana Al-Khamri's wishes. Before that, however, media such as DN, Aftonbladet and SvD had been given a preview of the uncut version, and reviewed it.
SR klippte bort kungakritiskt innehåll ur Sommarprat - DN.SE
Translation
Hana Al-Khamri posted to her Twitter the King's interview at Månadsjournalen in 1996.
Read below an interview with King Carl XVI Gustaf for Månadsjournalen 1996. "There's one thing I don't understand: Why the King is against female succession to the throne?" asks Stefan Mehr. The King replies: "Because I think it's a difficult situation for a woman to be a monarch. It's not easy."
Hana Al-Khamri has lived in Sweden since 2011 and works as a freelance writer and lecturer with a focus on politics, culture, women's rights in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East.