“Blasphemy legislation” – expert sees prison sentence against Paludan

Published 6 November 2024 at 11.52

Law & Right. Freedom of speech expert Nils Funcke is strongly critical of the Malmö district court's prison sentence against Rasmus Paludan for incitement against a ethnic group. Funcke believes that the district court's interpretation of Paludan's statements is “beyond reasonable” and could lead to Sweden in practice getting a form of “blasphemy legislation”.

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Paludan was sentenced on Monday to four months in prison for, among other things, statements that “Islam is good at killing” and that Muslims do not like Western democracy and freedom of speech.

The District Court held that these statements were aimed at Muslims who group, which Funcke considers to be an exaggerated and incorrect interpretation.

He notes that Paludan expresses himself about Islam as an ideology, not about a specific ethnic group. The district court's assessment is too broad and “beyond what is reasonable”, according to Funcke.

– It is like introducing a form of blasphemy legislation, says Nils Funcke to TT.

He warns that if the verdict stands, it could mean that it will be impossible to freely discuss or criticize Islam in the same way that Paludan has done.

Nils Funcke hopes for a change in the Court of Appeal and that the verdict will be appealed.< /p>

In contrast, Funcke has no objections to the part of the judgment that deals with Paludan's statements about Arabs and Africans. There he believes that the statements express direct disrespect towards specific ethnic groups, which according to him is fully compatible with incitement against an ethnic group.

Rasmus Paludan, who is also being sentenced for insulting in connection with a Koran burning in Malmö 2022, has announced that he will appeal the sentence.