Man sentenced for carrying offensive placard

A man who displayed a placard accusing immigrants of group rape at an anti-racism rally has been convicted of agitation against an ethnic group.


During a March 2007 rally organized in the south west coast town of Ängelholm by SSU, the youth wing of the Social Democratic Party, the man was seen holding a sign reading, “While Swedish girls are being group raped by immigrant gangs the SSU is fighting racism.”

The man was arrested and eventually indicted on charges of agitation against an ethnic group, according to the Helsingborgs Dagblad newspaper.

During his trial, the man claimed he simply wanted to point out the absurdity of holding a demonstration against racism and hoped the sign would spark debate. He asserted he was simply expressing an opinion, which is a right afforded to him under the European Convention on Human Rights.

[While I know nothing of the mans real intentions, it's a fact that gangrapes was virtually unheard of 15 years ago before the mass immigration started. While there are no official statistics about the perps (it's not allowed here in Sweden) It is not that hard to get info on this matter. Let's just say that statistics have been done in Norway, and they show that gangrapes exclusively are done by immigrants- with Sxxxxxx* in majority. The trialed man (lawyer) are also absolutely right in that it IS his right under the ECHR to express himself in this way. Moreover "immigrants" could hardly be said to be an "ethnic group". This stinks- in more than one way!]

But District Prosecutor Lars Danielsson disagreed, arguing that the man “expressed disrespect for a group of people with reference to their national or ethnic background.”

[Immigrants is still not an ethnic group!Swedes are. Samis are, but not "immigrants"!]

The court agreed with Danielsson, fining the man 4000 kronor ($650).

In its decision, the court found the placard made gross generalizations that immigrants are inclined to rape Swedish girls, which falls under the legal definition of disrespect.

[But no one has proven that the man is wrong! They can't and therefore he should never have been convicted...]

The court furthermore rejected the man’s free speech argument by pointing out that he could have expressed his opinions in a manner other than wandering around the Ängelholm central square on a Saturday morning carrying an offensive sign, and that even the human rights convention has its limits.

[The human rights convention CAN NOT have limits. Either we have free speach or we do not! BY god! I've only read law for a couple of semesters but this is outrageous. Even by Swedish standards. This is what you get when the courts are politiciced with political party member sitting as judges (Nämndemän- there are no translation I can think of) rather than people that actually know law! I don't care if the convicted man is a raging racist. What he did was using his rights for free speech. But not only will he almost ceartainly win an appeal in EU court, but also by then, milions will have been spent of the Swedish taxpayers money. Aaaaaarrrrrggh!]

*At first I wrote the nationality out. Lets just say people from the African continent. I have not got the time to spare for legal shit. And for those of you that might try- African people are NOT an ethnic group- neither are North East African muslims!