Sweden secures first hate speech conviction after Quran burning
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A series of Quran burning demonstrations in Sweden have caused a furore in the Muslim world.
PHOTO: REUTERS
STOCKHOLM – For the first time, a Swedish man has been convicted of hate speech for a Quran burning-related offence.
The verdict comes after a series of such demonstrations caused a furore in the Muslim world and added to Turkey’s reticence about accepting Sweden’s bid to become a member of defence alliance Nato.
The actions have also fuelled a debate on legal options to block people from desecrating Islam’s holy book in public.
The district court in Linkoping concluded that while the act of burning a Quran in itself is not illegal, the 27-year-old man intended to threaten Muslims when he posted a video of himself burning Islam’s holy book.
On Thursday, he was convicted of “agitation against an ethnic or national group” and handed a suspended sentence.
This means a two-year probation period during which he faces a different sanction if he is sentenced again.
The video was posted on Sept 11, 2020, on Twitter, the social media platform now known as X. It showed a Quran being burned alongside bacon – meat that many Muslims abstain from eating – on a barbecue grill.
The video was set to music that, according to the court, is “closely associated” with the 2019 terror attack on mosques in New Zealand, in which 51 people were killed.
“The court has found that the video targeted Muslims, and not Islam as a religion,” it said in a statement. “The contents of the video, and the way in which it was published, make it clear that the defendant’s primary purpose couldn’t have been anything other than to threaten and express disregard.”
While the conviction could help smooth the way for Turkey’s Parliament to ratify Sweden’s accession to Nato – after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July agreed to support the bid – it may prove to be inadequate as Ankara vies with Washington over F-16 fighter jets.
Sweden has announced an increased level of terrorist threat after the incendiary demonstrations, and its government has launched an inquiry into potential legal changes that would allow police to block such events on national security grounds.
An Iraqi man who is responsible for the majority of Quran burnings across Sweden in 2023 is currently under investigation for the same crime as Thursday’s conviction. BLOOMBERG
