Richard Jomshof announced on Friday that he is taking a break from his job as chairman of the Judiciary Committee because he is suspected of crimes. The background is two cartoons critical of Islam that he shared on the platform X in May this year.
According to international law expert Ove Bring, the images constitute incitement against ethnic groups.
– I even think that it is likely that the court would find that it is that way, because in the section that applies here in the criminal code, 16 and 8, so much is true, says Ove Bring to TV4 The news.
The expert: “Clearly over the limit”
Jomshof himself disagrees. Quarterly “Friday Podcast” he says that the cartoons fall within the scope of freedom of expression.
The two images depicting Muslim caricatures – including the words “rape jihad” – were first posted by a Pakistani critic of Islam living in the UK.
– I think the image clearly crosses the line of what is covered by freedom of expression, says lawyer Ängla Pändel, chairman of the Institute for Law and the Internet, to TV4 Nyheterna.
Not clearly
The second picture is of a Muslim refugee family being welcomed into a house that symbolizes Europe, only to set the house on fire the next moment and shout “Islam first”.
– The picture, although very offensive, is not as clear, but could be covered, says lawyer Ängla Pändel, chairman of the Institute for Law and the Internet, to TV4 Nyheterna.
But the Islam-critical cartoons are not a clear-cut case of incitement against a ethnic group, says expert Vilhelm Persson, law professor at Lund University.
– No, I don’t think so. It is up to the prosecutor and then the court to decide on this. But it does raise the question of where the line is for what is a factual political debate, or whether it is an unnecessary post with a derogatory purpose, says Vilhelm Persson.