STOCKHOLM: A Swedish court found an anti-Islam campaigner guilty on Monday of hate crimes for staging public burnings of the Quran, in a ruling handed down five days after another man also being prosecuted over the incidents was shot dead.
Salwan Najem, a Swedish citizen, was given a suspended sentence and fines over the Quran burnings and derogatory comments he made about Muslims in the 2023 incidents, which led to unrest and inspired anger towards Sweden in Muslim countries.
His fellow campaigner, Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, was shot dead last week on the day he had been due to receive his verdict in a parallel case. No suspect has been charged yet in that killing; five people were detained but later released. Sweden’s prime minister has said a foreign state may have been behind it.
The 2023 Quran burnings made the balance between free speech rights and rules protecting ethnic and religious groups into a major issue for Sweden, its Nordic neighbours and other European countries.
The Stockholm district court said in a statement Najem, 50, and Momika had desecrated the Quran in various ways and made offensive statements directed towards Islam, representatives of the religion and activities in mosques.
Najem was found guilty of hate crimes for “having expressed contempt for the Muslim ethnic group because of their religious beliefs on four occasions”, it said.
Najem’s lawyer said he would appeal against the verdict.
“My client considers that his statements fall within the scope of criticism of religion, which is covered by the freedom of expression,“ he said.
The court had dropped the case against Momika after he was killed.
