The Stockholm Administrative Court has overturned Södertälje Municipality’s decision to erect a memorial commemorating the 1915 genocide. The ruling was handed down on June 5, 2026, and means that the monument—which had long been planned for Turingelunden, near Stora Torget—cannot be erected in accordance with the municipal decision.
Background
Since 2015, the Municipality of Södertälje has been working on the issue of a memorial for Assyrians and other Christians who fell victim to the genocide in the Ottoman Empire. In June 2025, the City Council made the formal decision to place the monument in Turingelunden, near Stora Torget—with the inscription “The 1915 Genocide of Christian Groups in the Former Ottoman Empire, Present-Day Turkey” and the names of the affected ethnic groups.
That decision was appealed by a private citizen who argued that the matter falls outside the municipality’s jurisdiction and involves foreign policy.
Court decision
The Administrative Court ruled in favor of the complainant. The Court found that the decision essentially amounts to the municipality taking a position on the issue of recognizing the genocide—a matter that falls solely within the purview of the state. The municipality’s arguments that the monument is an expression of solidarity with its own citizens, and that the Riksdag had already recognized the genocide in 2010, did not alter the Court’s assessment.
The Way Forward
The ruling may be appealed to the Court of Appeals within three weeks, but requires leave to appeal. It is now up to the municipality of Södertälje to decide whether to pursue the matter further—a decision that will be closely monitored by the Assyrian National Federation and the Assyrian community in Sweden. For a people still awaiting broad international recognition of the Seyfo, every step backward is felt keenly. But the fight for the memorial is not over.
