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CRIME

Danish-Swedish extremist Rasmus Paludan charged with hate crimes

Rasmus Paludan, a Danish-Swedish far-right campaigner, has been charged with incitement against an ethnic group and insult.

Published: 7 August 2024 12:19 CEST
Rasmus Paludan
Rasmus Paludan pictured at a gathering near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm in 2023. Photo by: Fredrik Sandberg / TT

The charges stem from statements Paludan made about Muslims, Arabs, and Africans, which the Swedish Prosecution Authority (Åklagarmyndigheten) considers unlawful, the Swedish news bureau TT reported on Wednesday.

According to a press release from the Prosecutor’s Office, the charges relate to events that occurred in Malmö in April and September 2022.

“My assessment is that there are sufficient grounds to bring charges (against Paludan), and now the district court will consider the case,” senior prosecutor Adrien Combier-Hogg said in the press release.

Case background

During the Easter weekend of 2022, riots erupted in several Swedish cities after Paludan planned to burn Qurans in various locations across the country.

On April 16th, he had been granted permission to hold a public meeting in Landskrona, but the police later relocated the event to the outskirts of Malmö.

At this gathering, Paludan made several statements about Muslims, which the prosecution authorities believe constitute incitement against an ethnic group.

On September 6th of the same year, at another meeting in Malmö, Paludan made similar statements about Arabs and Africans, which were also deemed incitement against ethnic groups by the prosecutor.

Additionally, Paludan directed a series of messages at a person, which the prosecutor believes were intended to insult the person based on their skin colour, national, or ethnic origin.

For this, Paludan faces an additional charge of insult.

According to the Swedish Criminal Code, Chapter 5, Section 3, anyone who makes accusations, disparaging statements, or engages in humiliating behavior toward another person can be convicted of insult in Sweden if the act is likely to harm the other person’s self-esteem or dignity.

ALSO READ: When does a Quran burning qualify as a hate crime in Sweden?

When contacted by TT shortly after the announcement, Paludan stated that he had yet to be informed of the indictment.

“I have not heard anything. What I can say is that I was interrogated in Denmark, and at that time, I denied any crime,” he said.

Previous controversy

In July of 2023, Turkey issued an arrest warrant for Paludan for setting a copy of the Quran on fire in Stockholm in January.

At that time, a Swedish prosecutor dropped an investigation into Paludan for alleged hate crimes related to the January burning.

The prosecutor explained to DN that the act “targeted a symbol of the religion and not the group [of Muslims] itself, even if people are offended. That distinction is important.”

In 2020, the police attempted to ban Paludan from entering Sweden. However, they had to retract the ban after it was revealed that Paludan was entitled to Swedish citizenship through his Swedish father.

Member comments

  1. Nobody should be sent to jail for burning a book of any kind, regardless. All religions should be subject to criticism, without exception.

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CRIME

UPDATED: Teenager shot and injured at school in southern Stockholm

A teenager is being treated in hospital after they were shot in the toilets of a school in southern Stockholm.

Published: 4 September 2024 10:50 CEST
Updated: 4 September 2024 15:10 CEST
UPDATED: Teenager shot and injured at school in southern Stockholm

A fifteen-year-old boy was shot at 8.30am at Trångsundsskolan in Huddinge, southern Stockholm, with another 15-year-old arrested shortly afterwards on suspicion of attempted murder.

Huddinge municipality first reported in a press statement that the weapon used was an air rifle, although this information has now been taken down. According to sources close to Aftonbladet, a weapon with live ammunition was used, although police will not confirm this. 

Helena Boström Thomas, from the Stockholm Police, said that the victim did not appear to be seriously wounded. 

“The person was conscious and able to speak when we arrived at the crime scene and is now being cared for in hospital,” she said. “We are not looking for more perpetrators and no others have been wounded.” 

According to the school’s head teacher Kaj Majuri, the shooting was the culmination of a conflict between the two pupils. 

“I know that these pupils had a conflict a few years ago, but thought that we had solved it back then,” he said. “This came like a lightning strike from a clear blue sky.” 

Majuri said he had received no indication of gangland rivalries taking root in the school, and had as a result been taken by surprise. 

“It’s terrible that a pupil has been exposed to this and exposed at his own school,” he continued. 

Although Majuri decided to keep the school open for the day despite the shooting, many parents came and took their children home.

A pupil told the Aftonbladet newspaper that the shooting had been disturbing. 

“My body is shaking all over. You just don’t expect something like this to happen, but nowadays something like this can happen anywhere,” they told the newspaper. 

Police have cordoned off the crime scene and are interviewing witnesses and people who know the students affected. 

The municipality has sent psychologists and social workers to the school to help other students handle the shock and trauma of the attack. 

Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, and the country’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, both reacted strongly to the news with Kristersson calling it “absolutely terrifying”. 

“School shootings aren’t something we associate with Seeden, but we have been recently seeing terrifying examples of extremely young people who are ready to commit extremely serious crimes,” he said. 

Strömmer said that such gun violence was “particularly serious when it happens at a school”. 

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