Still in pain over the loss of his son, a British father attacks Spotify and the Swedish government.
On April 7th, Rakhmat Akilov, an ISIS sympathizer, hijacked a beer truck in Sweden. The 39-year-old Uzbekistan immigrant drove down busy streets in Stockholm, ruthlessly mowing down dozens of innocent civilians.
Once the terror attack ended, five people had died. Fourteen were left with serious injuries. Spotify’s Global Partnership Director, Chris Bevington, had perished in the attack.
Now, the victim’s father, John Bevington, has spoken out.
Putting the blame on Swedish authorities, Bevington also accused Spotify of failing to give his son’s grieving widow and his two sons adequate compensation.
Did Spotify provide enough help?
According to the Daily Mail, right before the attack, Chris Bevington walked down a busy “shopping street” in Stockholm. When he saw the beer truck heading towards him, in a “display of love and bravery,” Bevington threw his 7-year-old son to safety.
Chris Bevington had worked with Spotify for five years.
In a statement, Daniel Ek, the company’s CEO, wrote that they would willingly help Bevington’s family.
“Whilst this terrible news is sinking in, our primary focus is on supporting the family and loved ones of Chris in any way we possibly can.”
But in a letter to the Swedish Prime Minister, Chris’ father lambasted Spotify’s response, or lack thereof.
John Bevington wrote,
“In the UK and internationally, if you ‘die in service’ a company pays the surviving spouse a minimum of four years’ of the victim’s salary, and even more in a terrorist attack, as the bereaved family are also awarded additional funds for any children as well.
“This is because companies recognize that they have a clear moral ‘duty of care’ for all their employees, and to support victims in such devastating life-changing events, which happen for the worse, in a matter of seconds.
“Sadly, Spotify, despite being a multi-national Swedish company, doesn’t feel the need to be that honorable.”
In addition, he slammed the Swedish government’s failure to deport Rakhmat Akilov.
“If the terrorist had been deported by the Swedish police as he should have been, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Authorities had served Akilov with a deportation order late last year. They had apparently failed to carry out the order in time.
Spotify’s response.
In a statement to The Daily Mail, Spotify said that they have offered “significant financial and medical help to Mr. Bevington’s widow and children.”
The company didn’t offer any details, however.
In the letter, John Bevington asked for financial and emotional support for the terror attack’s victims.
“We appeal to you, Prime Minister, for your help. We ask this only for our distraught daughter-in-law, Annika and their two young sons, who now face a life without a loving husband and a devoted father.
“As you can imagine, all their hopes and dreams were wiped out in seconds, and our little Swedish family is left distraught.”
Image by Frankie Fouganthin (CC by 4.0)
Spotify are scum-sucking greasebags who don’t care about humanity. Is this news to anyone?
DMNs quest to discredit Spotify hits a new low. Shame.
That’s what you are, DMN, just disgusting rats. Way to bait clicks with a family’s grief.
Frankly I think this demand to pay 4 years for a person’s salary + various other benefits and costs goes too far, especially when Spotify has already indicated they have paid some restitution. It’s a sad situation all around, but I think this boils down to what’s fair.
Do you know what Spotify offered? Or if it was also paying for death insurance for this person?
Spotify indicated that some restitution was paid, but stopped there. I trust that they did something they felt was fair; I’m not sure it’s fair to demand that they pay for years of salary and other benefits. It’s a shitty situation, but, I’m not sure Spotify should be getting blamed.
I agree with the father in that it’s the Government of Sweden who is responsible for not capturing and deporting the terrorist!