Anna Sjödin was first elected chairperson for the Social Democratic Youth League in Västerbotten, and in 2001 was elected in to the board of the Social Democratic Youth League. In August 2005 Sjödin was unanimously elected as the new chairperson of the Social Democratic Youth League after Ardalan Shekarabi who chose not to stand for re-election after several scandals and divisive battles. In December 2006 she had to resign from the chairperson position after found guilty of behaving bad when drunk. See below. Later she has taken a position as a headmaster of a Folk high school in Vindeln, North Sweden.
On January 29, 2006, Sjödin was arrested by the police outside the pub Crazy Horse in Östermalm in Stockholm. According to Babak Jamei, one of the bouncers, a drunk Sjödin not only assaulted him and other bouncers but also used derogatory words—alluding to the fact that he was an immigrant. Sjödin, however, claims that the bouncers assaulted her and her friends. She had to spend the night in the constabulary. The prosecutor rejected Sjödins allegations, but continued investigating the allegations made by the bouncers. During the trial Sjödin continued to claim that the bouncer had screamed profanities at her and her friend and that he was aggressive, but she also admitted that she had drunk a couple of strong beers, a third of a bottle of wine and one tequila. The barman had determined that Sjödin was too drunk to be served, and called the bouncers to eject Sjödin and her friend. During the trial, witnesses testified that Sjödin, who is a former rugby union footballer, had used violence in resisting her ejection from the pub. On October 12, 2006, the Stockholm district court found Sjödin guilty of assaulting the bouncer "insult", "taking the law into one's own hands", "assaulting a person holding legal authority" and "violent resistance". She was sentenced to pay a fine of 120 days wages at 300 kronor per day. Sjödin was also ordered to pay 5,500 kronor in damages to Babak Jamei, the doorman. The court found that Sjödin had used words of "racist characteristic", she had called the guard "bloody blackskull" and had said that people such as him were not welcome in Sweden. The court said that there was strong evidence that Sjödin had challenged the bouncer's authority. The court also found that Sjödin had ripped Jamei's badge from his jacket and taken it with her into a police car. Sjödin has decided to appeal the verdict to the Svea Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal decided not to try this case. She has said she will appeal this denial, since in this case it is not only a fine, but a political career at stake.
