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DISCRIMINATION

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.

Published: 21 April 2022 11:44 CEST
Police in Malmö report Danish extremist for hate crimes
The Danish extremist holds a Koran-burning protest in Landskrona on Saturday. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

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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CRIME

Sweden Democrat politician charged for dismembering colleague

The former politician has been charged on suspicion of murdering his colleague in an apartment south of Stockholm, after police found body parts in three different locations in the capital.

Published: 14 June 2022 14:05 CEST
Sweden Democrat politician charged for dismembering colleague

According to the prosecution, the body parts found in plastic bags in central Stockholm came from a man in his 60s murdered in an apartment in Nyköping, south of Stockholm.

The man is said to have been killed by a pistol shot to the head, after which the 60-year-old charged with the murder dismembered the body.

The suspected murderer, who newspaper Expressen reports is a former Sweden Democrat politician, is said to have moved the body parts multiple times, eventually dumping them across the city.

In total, three body parts were found in two different locations – the Karlsberg canal and in the Djurgården park. Not all parts of the body have yet been found.

“We’ve carried out a comprehensive investigation into the victim and the suspect. We can, to some extent, show how and when the suspect moved the body parts,” prosecutor Marina Chirakova told TT.

The victim, who according to Expressen was also a former Sweden Democrat politician, had been friends with the suspected murderer for a number of years. Prosecutors did not comment on the motive behind the murder.

“That will be discussed in the main hearings,” she told TT.

The suspect was taken into custody in November last year after being arrested in Nyköping. He denies the charges, but accepts certain circumstances related to the case.

Upon his arrest, he resigned from his political obligations and his membership was frozen by the Sweden Democrats.

“I don’t want to comment on his stance on the charges or anything he has said,” she further told TT.

The murder is suspected to have taken place between August 30th and September 16th last year.

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