According to the indictment of Rasmus Paludan, it concerns events in Malmö, partly in April 2022 and in September of the same year, the Prosecutor’s Office writes in a press release – something TV4 Nyheterna wrote about earlier on Wednesday.
The indictment states that Paludan has “expressed disrespect for a people group or other such group of people with allusions to creed, national origin or ethnic origin by putting bacon in and around a Koran and then setting fire to, kicking and spitting on the Koran” .
However, Rasmus Paludan himself claims that it was through the Swedish media that he became aware of the indictment.
– I have not been told from any official source that I am being prosecuted. But if we say that it is so, that they have informed the media before they have informed me, then I have to say that I am still innocent and therefore should be acquitted, says Rasmus Paludan to TV4 Nyheterna.
“Politically motivated”
According to the indictment, Paludan allegedly made statements about Muslims, such as “Sweden will be negatively affected if Muslims are allowed to stay there” and that “Muslims make a lot of mistakes”. He is also reported to have also made statements against different ethnicities, but says in an interview with TV4 Nyheterna that the prosecution is politically motivated, at the initiative of the Malmö police.
Paludan says that the events in Malmö that relate to the indictment concern square meetings before the 2022 parliamentary elections and that he said the same things in other cities – and was not indicted there.
– Precisely in Malmö, where there is most Islamization and where the police are most pro-Islam, there they bring charges against me. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I believe that this is very politically motivated and I find that very sad, he says.
“Part of freedom of speech”
The freedom of speech expert Nils Funcke is critical of one of the two counts of incitement against a ethnic group and believes that it does not fall within the scope of the crime. To TV4 Nyheterna, he points out flaws in the prosecution and that a conviction would result in extensive restrictions on freedom of expression in Sweden and that expressions of opinion that are provocative should still be allowed in a democracy.
– Just this provocation, it’s part of freedom of expression. You can, in and of itself, imagine a freedom of expression where everyone smiles in agreement and no one says anything controversial at all. But that’s not the kind of society we want to live in, with such conformism that everyone thinks the same, says Nils Funcke to TV4 Nyheterna.
Funcke describes Paludan’s actions as “inarticulate” and says that he understands that people are upset by the statements, but believes that freedom of expression weighs more heavily than provocations that can be perceived as offensive.
– We have to guard the right to demonstrate, freedom of assembly and freedom of association. It is one of our hallmarks for the Swedish state and our democracy, Funcke continues.