Rasmus Paludan sentenced to four months in prison for Koran burning incitement

The provocateur, Islam critic, and politician Rasmus Paludan has now been sentenced to four months in prison for two counts of incitement against an ethnic group following his widely publicized Koran burnings in 2022.

According to the district court, Paludan is guilty of incitement against an ethnic group, as he is judged to have expressed contempt for Muslims in a manner that violates the law and cannot be excused as legitimate criticism of Islam. His actions, including burning and kicking a Koran wrapped in bacon, were also considered in the judgment.

Chief Judge Nicklas Söderberg stated that it is permissible to criticize Islam or Muslims – but not in the way that Rasmus Paludan demonstrably did.

– The contempt for an ethnic group must not clearly exceed the boundary for a factual and substantive discussion. In these cases, it was not a matter of such a discussion. Instead, the statements were purely intended to insult and offend Muslims.

Paludan denies the charges, claiming that he was merely presenting his party’s (Stram Kurs) political message and criticizing the religion of Islam – not Muslims as an ethnic group. He has also stated that he intends to appeal the verdict.

300 Convicted for Riots

Prosecutor Adrien Combier-Hogg expressed satisfaction with the verdict overall but said he would have preferred a longer prison sentence and dismissed Paludan’s defense that he was merely expressing his party’s political views.

– Just because someone is classified as a politician doesn’t mean that this is the type of politician meant when we say that politicians have stronger protections for their freedom of expression.

If he is not acquitted in higher courts, Paludan claims he will end his political involvement in Sweden – his party received 156 votes in the last election.

In addition to Paludan’s own sentence, it should be noted that more than 300 people have been convicted of various offenses related to the violent immigrant riots and disturbances that broke out in response to the Koran burnings, with immigrant groups in many cases mobilizing en masse to attack police or other emergency responders.