Swedish newspaper sued

The Swedish newspaper that published an article by a freelance journalist claiming that Israeli troops harvested organs from Palestinians, is being sued. See previous post about the freedom of the press.

Behind the suit is an Israeli lawyer from New York:

Attorney Guy Ophir filed a $7.5 million libel suit in New York on Tuesday against Aftonbladet, the Swedish tabloid that published the report Aug. 17. Ophir said the article's allegations were anti-Semitic and amounted to a "racist blood libel" against Jews.

The article as well as Aftonbladet's journalistic methods have been heavily criticized in Sweden, but the right to publish the article has been unanimously defended.

"Aftonbladet was within its rights to publish the article, and neither the Chancellor of Justice, nor the Israeli government, nor the Swedish ambassador has the right to interfere with that decision," wrote the editor-in-chief of [Expressen's, Aftonbladet's major tabloid rival] culture section, Björn Wiman.