Published March 31, 2023 at 1:05 p.m.
Domestic. Regional politician Bertil Malmberg, 83, was kicked out of the Sweden Democrats and was convicted in both the District Court and the Court of Appeal after citing research on IQ differences between races. But now he is acquitted of the crime of incitement against a group of people by the Supreme Court.
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IQ-convicted SD member
- Court of Appeal: Prohibited from telling the truth about Africans' IQ
- SD excludes member for referring to facts
- SD politician sentenced for referring to scientific study
- Here is the speech for which the SD politician is charged
- The chief prosecutor: It is crime of opinion even if it is true
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It was in a speech to Sörmland's regional council on April 27 this year that Bertil Malmberg mentioned the scientific research on South Sudanese IQ.
– During the year, the Migration Agency, in its lack of wisdom, placed a number of South Sudanese quota refugees in Sörmland. It is relevant that the population there is among the peoples with the lowest intelligence in the entire world, which is well documented in research, he said.
In January of the same year, Fria Tider had written about the current research in a attention-grabbing article. The study showed that South Sudanese have a barely measurable average IQ below 55.
When Bertil Malmberg mentioned the South Sudanese in the regional council, he was quickly interrupted by chairman Tomas Borin (VFP). Then he was reported to the police by Social Democrat Christine Gilljam. At the same time, the Sweden Democrats launched an internal investigation into excluding Malmberg from the party because of his statement. He was then expelled on the grounds that he “defied the party's suspension decision” by continuing political work.
The Supreme Court now rules that there is only a small margin for considering that statements made in the context of a debate in a political assembly are punishable. According to the court, it should most likely come into question in the case of statements with “a particularly offensive content and which clearly go beyond what is acceptable in political discussions”.
According to HD, the statement, taking into account the context – even though it was “clearly derogatory to the designated group” – did not go beyond what must be accepted within the framework of a debate in a political assembly. Bertil Malmberg is therefore acquitted of the charge of incitement against a national group.
– The importance of a free and open debate must weigh heavily in the assessment of whether statements made during a debate in a political assembly should be considered punishable as incitement against a national group , says Justice Cecilia Renfors in a statement and continues:
– That approach has strong support in statements by the legislature when the penalty provision was introduced and when it has been changed later, as well as in the form of government and the European Convention's protection for freedom of expression.
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Bertil Malmberg is happy with the verdict.
– I am of course happy that it turned out this way. Not happy just for my own sake, but also for the freedom of expression in Sweden, he tells SVT.
He also states that despite being excluded by the leadership, he received support from others within SD.
– I'm made of pretty tough wood, I haven't been affected that much by this. My family has found it difficult, but they and many old friends in SD have stood by me, says Bertil Malmberg.