The MDLBEAST Soundstorm Festival is organized in the capital Riyadh by the Saudi Arabian Entertainment Authority.
Among the Swedish bookings are the pop duo Rebecca & Fiona, Axwell and Alesso.
Criticism is now directed at the artists, which are based on the organizer MDLBEAST collaborating with Saudi Arabia, whose regime is accused of serious crimes against humanity, writes DN.
Human Rights Watch kritiska
Human Rights Watch is one of those who is now raising Soundstorm.
Måns Molander is Sweden's manager and believes that the event fulfills an underlying purpose.
-The festival is part of a very conscious Saudi strategy to project a more modern and open image to the outside world of Saudi Arabia, than what their "track record" of abuses and violations of human rights actually points to, says Måns Molander to DN.
Further criticism comes from Michael Stangl, director of the German CTM festival, who expressed himself on twitter.
"If you like money so much that you take it from a government that kills journalists and carries the death penalty for being gay, then you really should ask yourself some serious questions," he writes.
Justin Bieber urged to cancel concert
Hatice Gengiz is the fiancée of regime-critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. In an open letter to the Washington Post, she appealed to Justin Bieber earlier this week to cancel an upcoming concert at a Formula 1 event in Jeddah. Saudi Arabia.
She said that his cancellation would "send a strong signal to the outside world".
Human Rights Watch also urges Bieber to cancel.
Criticized earlier
This is not the first time the festival has been criticized, in 2019 Soundstorm was arranged for the first time.
In connection with this, several artists were accused of receiving money to participate in the event.
SVT has contacted Rebecca & Fiona, Axwell and Alesso for a comment.