Published 10 March 2023 at 14.01
Domestic. Prosecutors are suddenly preparing charges against Rasmus Paludan for a Koran burning during the Koran riots in 2022 – even though almost a year has passed since the incident. According to the prosecutor, however, the whole thing has nothing to do with Sweden's NATO application.
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The suspicion concerns incitement against a group of people on April 16 last year, when Rasmus Paludan burned a Koran in Malmö, which triggered widespread riots.
Now an investigation into the incident has ended up in the Malmö district court – at the same time as attempts to persuade Turkey to accept Sweden's NATO application have collapsed.
p>Chamber prosecutor Adrien Combier-Hogg states, however, that the reason for the delay is investigative technical.
– For some time now, we have been ready to interrogate him and share suspicions, but we have not come to blows. And it is mainly for reasons that have to do with the police's security work, says the prosecutor to Expressen.
Freedom of expression expert Nils Funcke believes that it is “close to misconduct” to proceed with the case. According to him, it can never be incitement against a group of people to just burn a Koran.
After Rasmus Paludan's Koran burning at the Turkish embassy in January, Säpo and the police have in practice banned more Koran burnings, citing “a changed threat picture for Sweden “. At the same time, Turkish President Erdogan has underlined that he will not agree to Swedish NATO membership as long as Koran burnings are allowed in the country.