GW on SD’s mosque plot: “Very complicated legally”

That Jimmie Åkesson (SD) said during a speech that he wants to start confiscating and demolishing mosques has received a lot of attention and criticism.
Criminologist Leif GW Persson believes that it would be difficult to implement both legally and practically.
– It is very complicated legally. So we can probably forget that part. It requires a constitutional amendment.

In a speech during the Sweden Democrats’ country days, party leader Jimmie Åkesson said that Sweden should not build more mosques and that the possibility of demolishing them should be reviewed. Leif GW Persson believes that it would be difficult to achieve.

– It’s actually tricky. In Sweden, we have freedom of religion according to the constitution, so it is very difficult to join a religious community for that reason alone.

Practical problems with the proposal

What Åkesson says in the speech is that he wants to be able to confiscate and demolish mosques where anti-democratic, anti-Swedish, homophobic, anti-Semitic propaganda or general misinformation about Swedish society is spread.

– First of all, it must be able to be proven then. And apart from the constitution, it will lead to a lot of practical problems as well. I get the impression that Åkesson is not quite clear about them.

“Very complicated”

Leif GW Persson points out that many mosques are located in ordinary apartment buildings or business premises and that it would also therefore be very difficult to demolish them.

– There, the property owners are different from those who run the religious activities. It is very complicated legally, he says and continues:

– We can probably forget that part. And that, as I said, requires a constitutional amendment.

What do you think about mosques being a breeding ground for extremism?

– It certainly cannot be ruled out in individual cases. There are certainly extreme places where the religious activity is to a large extent a cover for something else. But, as you know, such things also occur in communities other than within Islam.