Swedish appeals court partially acquits far-right activist who burned copies of Koran

A Swedish appeals court on Monday partially acquitted a far-right activist convicted in 2022 of hate crimes against Muslims over statements he made whilst burning the Koran, and suspended his four-month prison sentence.

The Skane and Blekinge appeal court acquitted Rasmus Paludan of one of two charges, ruling he had criticised Islam as an idea, and not its followers. It suspended his sentence and fined him 50 daily fines of 50 crowns ($5.31).

Denmark and Sweden were at the time experiencing a series of public protests where lone anti-Islam activists burned or otherwise damaged copies of the Koran, prompting outrage in the Muslim world and demands that the Nordic governments ban such acts.

A citizen of both Denmark and Sweden, Paludan has several times set Islam's holy book on fire in public, on occasion also draping it in bacon.

While burning religious texts is permitted under Sweden's freedom of speech legislation, agitation against an ethnic or national group, such as insulting and offending Muslims, can be a violation of the law.

According to the appeal court, Paludan's statements from April 2022 could be interpreted as statements criticising religion, which it said is not punishable as incitement against an ethnic group.

"In light of the fact that the politician criticized Islam as an idea during other parts of the gathering, it is not obvious... that the statements in question should be interpreted in such a way that the message was to criticize Muslims as a group," the court said.

The court upheld his conviction on the second count, of incitement against an ethnic group on September 6, 2022, finding Paludan had insulted an audience member.