The international storsatsningen ”Cold case Hammarskjold”, which had been under production for six years, is an attempt to solve the mystery surrounding the plane crash in 1961 in which the former UN secretary general Dag Hammarskjöld was killed. But when the film was premiered at the film festival Sundance in the united states the night of Sunday, Swedish time, it was clear that it also conveys a different and very controversial message.
the Document stunts come over and witnesses who for the first time tells the raises a strong suspicion that the underground paramilitary organisation, the South African institute for maritime research (SAIMR), intentionally tried to spread hiv infection among blacks in several countries in southern Africa in the 90’s.
the Accusation is confirmed by the previously SAIMR-member Alexander Jones and by the family of a young marine biologist who was murdered in 1990, when she, according to his brother wanted to leave the organization after having realized what was going on. The film also refers to documents on advanced hiv research, which claimed to be written by the SAIMR’s leader Keith Maxwell.
including the New York Times, received access to the film’s extensive research already in december of last year. Stunts urged other journalists to go on. The New York Times turned it down, and published in the Sunday a scathing critique of the film and its director, the dane Mads Brügger.
the Article, which is written by Matt Apuzzo, two times awarded the Pulitzer prize for his investigative journalism, claiming, inter alia, that the film’s main source is not credible.
the film Crew has reacted strongly to the article.
– We agree with the New York Times that there had been an intention to use aids as a biological weapon in southern Africa. We have approached them for help to investigate this further, but instead they have chosen to shoot against the messenger, which we think is a journalistic real choice, ” says the film’s producer, journalist Andreas Rocksén.
to put great confidence in the main source.
His statements have been examined very carefully by our lawyers. Journalists from, among others, The Observer has met him to be able to make their own assessments. Also the New York Times has had the opportunity to do this, but refrained. To then dismiss him in this way is simply not right, ” says Rocksén.
the film Crew also caters to the magazine using a seven year old review of Mads Brüggers controversial film ”the Ambassador”, where he in order to reveal the corruption in the central African republic pretending to be a diplomat and businessman. You mean that the description makes him appear to be racist and not credible.
”It is clearly below the standard for respectable journalism that one can expect of the New York Times”, writes the team in a statement.
not actually can prove that the intentional hiv spread took place, or even less that it is the reason that south Africa today has seven million hiv-infected, the highest in the world.
Stunts have also been aware of what reactions it may get to claim that an organization with apartheidregimens good memory tried to create mass death among blacks in south Africa.
– It is very strong accusations that need to be investigated further. Now governments and police forces. And we hope, of course, still that there are good journalists out there, who can bring up more information on both the SAIMR and Keith Maxwell, says Rocksén.
Today’s News received late in the process also access to the material, and published articles based on the new data around the Hammarskjöldfallet.
a number of leading hiv experts as the magazine surveyed stood strong rejection to the data on hiv-proliferation and to the advanced technology described in the documents. Professor Jan Albert at the Karolinska institutet is one of those who is skeptical.
– There is very little that speaks to the deliberate spread of hiv in a decisive manner, contributed to the rapid hiv increase, but it is difficult to prove that it is not at all has been done, ” says Albert.
for the DN that the newspaper got access to the material in advance, and that when you asked the filmmakers if the deviations in the Alexander Jones history admitted that they could not confirm the story or to the plan as described was medically feasible.
– at the same time as our article reveals skepticism among medical experts dismiss it, not the allegations. On the contrary, it is an important topic and one we wrote about in order to share with our readers more context and perspective, ” says the spokesman.
