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fullscreen Freedom of expression expert Nils Funcke hopes that the sentence against the far-right politician Rasmus Paludan will be appealed. Archive image. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT
Rasmus Paludan has been sentenced to prison for two counts of incitement against a ethnic group after statements that the district court considers offensive to Muslims.
– It is like introducing a form of blasphemy legislation, says freedom of expression expert Nils Funcke.
The criticism is aimed at the first charge, where Paludan himself believes that he made a critical statement about Islam and thus stayed within the limits of freedom of expression.
Malmö District Court has interpreted the statements differently and considers that Paludan was addressing Muslims when he said, for example, “Islam is good at killing”.
In another example, the district court, in accordance with the prosecutor, interpreted “Islam as a religion cannot possibly like Western democracy and freedom of expression” as “Muslims do not like Western democracy and freedom of expression”.
– I think that the district court has interpreted this too broadly and beyond what is reasonable. He speaks about Islam as a whole and does not focus on any individual ethnic group, but the district court interprets that as what he is doing indirectly, says Funcke.
In combination with the fact that Koran burnings were used as an aggravating circumstance, he believes that the sentence is in line with blasphemy.
– I sincerely hope that this will be appealed and that the Court of Appeal corrects the first charge. If it were to stand, we would in principle have introduced a form of blasphemy legislation in Sweden.
– It will be impossible to express oneself about Islam as an ideology in the strong way that he has done.
Regarding the second charge, which concerns Paludan’s statements about Arabs and Africans, Funcke has no objections to a conviction.
– There is no talk there. There, it is disrespect directed directly at certain specifically stated ethnic groups or people with a certain lineage.
Paludan made the statements at two separate gatherings in Malmö in 2022. At one gathering, he burned a Koran after wrapping it in bacon. He was also convicted of insult in connection with one of the gatherings. The penalty is imprisonment for four months.
Paludan has already announced that he will appeal the sentence.