Far-right leader Rasmus Paludan, who burned copies of Quran, goes on trial in Sweden

Far-right Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan who burned copies of the Quran in Sweden has gone on trial charged with incitement against an ethnic group, making him the first person to go on trial in relation to the incident.

According to The Guardian report, Paludan, the leader of the Danish political party Stram Kurs (Hard Line), refused to attend Malmö district court as proceedings began on Monday, saying his life would be in danger if he went to the southern Swedish city.

Instead, he appeared by video link from an undisclosed location in Sweden, added the report.

Paludan, 42, faces two counts of incitement against an ethnic group and one count of insult related to events held in Sweden in 2022, reported The Guardian.

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In April 2022, he conducted a public meeting that incited riots in several Swedish cities, including Malmö, Landskrona, Linköping, and Örebro, during the Easter weekend. The prosecutor claims that statements made by Paludan at this meeting constituted incitement against an ethnic group.

In a separate incident in September 2022, he allegedly made racially motivated verbal attacks on “Arabs and Africans,” leading to the insult charge, which under Swedish law can result in a fine or up to six months in prison.

Paludan, however, denies all charges against him.

Vilhelm Persson, a law professor at Lund University, told The Guardian that Paludan’s trial holds “fundamental significance” as the first case related to the burning of the Quran.

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However, he said that being heard in a district court limits its impact and for the case to set a legal precedent, it would need to be addressed by the Swedish Supreme Court.

“Today, October 14, the main hearing starts in Malmö district court in the case where a 42-year-old man has been charged with two counts of incitement against an ethnic group and an insult. The events took place in April and September 2022 in Malmö,” The Guardian quoted the prosecutor’s office as saying on Monday.

“My assessment is that there are sufficient reasons to bring charges and now the district court will hear the case,” senior prosecutor Adrien Combier-Hogg was quoted as saying in August.

With inputs from agencies