Yasin's Concert in Kristianstad Canceled Last Minute

Yasin's performances in Umeå and Borlänge were canceled, but the Skåne police initially deemed the event in Kristianstad safe until Wednesday afternoon, just three days before the concert.

With less than 80 hours until Yasin was set to perform in Kristianstad, he was preparing to travel from abroad to take the stage on Saturday, August 30.

However, an incident occurred that jeopardized the entire performance.

The booking of Yasin for the Skåne Garden Festival was announced last year.

– "My assessment is that we are offering our audience an artist with great vision and a really strong show," said organizer Sam Doorali to Kristianstadsbladet in December 2024.

But over the following months, several warning signs emerged.

Yasin Disappointed by the Decision

The performance at Brännbollsyran in Umeå, planned for late May, was canceled for security reasons.

According to the police, there was a real murder plot against Yasin. Three suspects were arrested.

– "It's unfortunate that it turned out this way. We made a decision based on media reports," said organizer Peter Arkhult to SVT Nyheter Västerbotten.

Today, Arkhult does not want to comment on what happened.

Yasin was also frustrated:

"This is not my decision, and I share your disappointment," he wrote on Instagram.

Soon, Alive in Borlänge also canceled their performance, which was planned for early July. The festival management had been convinced that Yasin was in a new place after serving a sentence for preparation for kidnapping and previous gang connections:

"Yasin has left his old life behind and is now focusing on the future as a family man and artist."

The concert was canceled despite the organizer saying they "stand by the booking."

But in Kristianstad, the festival management proceeded. Despite Umeå, despite Borlänge.

Not everyone was happy about this. L-politician Pierre Månsson stated that it is wrong to "put a billboard for gang crime on stage."

– "You can't use taxpayers' money and the city park for this, that was my point," he said.

He also saw the plan as completely unrealistic, given the threat.

– "I never believed he would actually take the stage."

Organizer: "Very, Very Expensive"

But Kristianstad police thought differently.

On August 22, the festival received permission for its entire program.

– "We had many conversations with the organizer. Good conversations," summarized police officer Thomas Johansson.

The festival management now had a week until the event started. The security work was costly, says organizer Sam Doorali.

– "It's about logistics, technical surveillance, personnel. I don't want to go into details. But it's very, very expensive," he says today.

Five days later, on Wednesday afternoon, everything changed.

Suddenly Everything Changes

Two departments within the police work on these types of issues, intelligence and permits. Somewhere in the ranks, nervousness arose about the permit they had given.

The assessment changed—from one minute to the next.

The new decision was to stop Yasin.

– "Now we have new information that makes us assess that this performance cannot be carried out without significant danger to those present and to the artist himself," said Tomas Johansson at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

The decision is defended afterward by Rebecca Olsson, the operational manager for the entire operation.

– "We went with the situation we had, there and then. We assess continuously. It was a late permit, so we wouldn't have to change," she says.

– "But when new information came, we were forced to go in and change parts."

Sam Doorali at the festival received the news directly from journalists, the police had not warned him.

– "I was in shock. It was a knockout blow," he says.

Now the police are silent. What happened on Wednesday afternoon? How could an assessment that took several months to reach suddenly change completely?

The police do not want to confirm that they received new information on Wednesday.

– "I don't know that we have gone out and said Wednesday. But we at least received the information at a late stage, and it forced us to make a new assessment. We announced this on Thursday," says operational manager Rebecca Olsson.

What is the information?

– "I won't go into that. I hope we can have that transparency later, but not now," says Rebecca Olsson but gives no forecast for when the information will be released.

Praising Everyone Who Helped

The shocked festival management quickly brought in artist Jireel, who delivered a praised performance. He was filming a music video in a forest in Spain and barely had mobile coverage when the request came.

– "It was, of course, intense, but I am just proud when I see how my team works. Everyone—the production, the dancers, tour management, booking agency, and the band—solved it in less than 24 hours," he says to Expressen.

Despite the dramatic change, the audience in Kristianstad was great, he believes.

– "The energy was insane, and it felt really fun. I've performed at Trädgården before, about two years ago, and I recognized some of those happy faces at the front."

Sam Doorali is grateful, in hindsight, that Jireel and others stepped up.

– "Many people rallied behind us. It was very heartwarming, it gave us strength in the tough moment," says organizer Sam Doorali.

Are you critical of the police?

– "Of course, I was upset when the decision came, there and then. But I don't know what they base the assessment on, so it's hard for me to judge."

According to information to Expressen, the police considered a PDV-like situation (ongoing deadly violence) in the initial security plan. But this is not confirmed by the police.

– "We have not talked in terms of PDV. What we have looked at is maintaining security," says Rebecca Olsson, operational manager.

However, she confirms that the festival site was monitored by drones.

The question now is how Yasin's performance could get permission in the first place. Regardless of what happened that Wednesday afternoon.

Wasn't that naive?

– "No, I don't think so. We have had a fairly long and good dialogue with them and looked at their security plan. It looked good, it looked very good," says Thomas Johansson at the police.

But didn't you take into account what happened in Umeå and Borlänge?

– "Of course, we knew about it. But they also had permission. There it was not the police but the organizer himself who made the decision."

– "This is an extremely difficult decision to make, I won't deny that. It takes a lot. But ultimately, we are responsible for order and safety."

Expressen seeks Yasin through his lawyer.