Police in Malmö report Danish extremist for hate crimes
Police in Malmö have reported Danish extremist Rasmus Paludan for "agitation against an ethnic group", after he burned a copy of the Koran in the city, triggering violent riots.
When Malmö police tried to have someone prosecuted for burning a copy of the Koran, the Islamic holy book, in 2020, local prosecutors decided that the act did not constitute an ethnic hate crime as covered by the law, as Muslims are not an ethnic group.
"We believe that this needs to be considered one more time," Jimmy Arkenheim, district police chief in Malmö, told Sweden's state broadcaster SVT.
"We think that it would have been good to have this tested one more time in court, because we of course understand that this provokes a offence, at the same time as we have a strong freedom of expression which needs to be set against this."
Arkenheim said that police believed it was important that the issue was considered in a courtroom and that the "full picture" was assessed again.
"When you look at the background for how the law was developed and its purpose, we think that it needs to be looked at one more time. Then it's possible that they again reach the same conclusion."
READ ALSO: Don’t blame ordinary Muslims in Sweden for the riots
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When Malmö police tried to have someone prosecuted for burning a copy of the Koran, the Islamic holy book, in 2020, local prosecutors decided that the act did not constitute an ethnic hate crime as covered by the law, as Muslims are not an ethnic group.
"We believe that this needs to be considered one more time," Jimmy Arkenheim, district police chief in Malmö, told Sweden's state broadcaster SVT.
"We think that it would have been good to have this tested one more time in court, because we of course understand that this provokes a offence, at the same time as we have a strong freedom of expression which needs to be set against this."
Arkenheim said that police believed it was important that the issue was considered in a courtroom and that the "full picture" was assessed again.
"When you look at the background for how the law was developed and its purpose, we think that it needs to be looked at one more time. Then it's possible that they again reach the same conclusion."
READ ALSO: Don’t blame ordinary Muslims in Sweden for the riots
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