AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A man who desecrated a copy of the Holy Quran in Sweden and posted the video online has been convicted of inciting ethnic hatred against Muslims.
The 27-year-old man filmed himself outside the Linkoping cathedral in September 2020, burning a Quran and bacon with a derogatory sign about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He then shared the video on social media platforms X and YouTube, and left the burnt Quran and bacon outside the Linkoping mosque.
The court said his act was aimed at Muslims and not Islam as a religion, and that it did not contribute to any constructive debate.
The video also featured a song called "Remove Kebab", which is popular among far-right groups and calls for the expulsion of Muslims. The court said the song was strongly linked to the 2019 Christchurch massacre, where a white supremacist killed 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand.
The man claimed that he was criticizing Islam as a religion, but the court rejected his argument. The court said his action was clearly intended to express threats and contempt towards Muslims, and that it could not be interpreted in any other way.
The man was found guilty of "agitation against an ethnic group", which is the first time that Sweden's court system has tried this charge for desecrating the Quran.
"The court finds that the chosen music to a film with such content can not be interpreted any other way than as a threat against Muslims with an allusion to their faith," the court wrote in a statement, adding, "The film's content and the form of its publication are such that it is clear that the defendant's primary purpose could not have been other than to express threats and contempt."
The court has not yet announced the sentence for the man.
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