Paludan's hate speech is illegal

Rasmus Paludan has already been convicted for racism, and experts claim he can also be persecuted for encouraging to violence.

Rasmus Paludan is a Danish lawyer who has lately drawn a lot of attention in Danish media. His party Stram Kurs (Tight Course) has recently managed to get enough signatures to register for the upcoming election to Danish parliament. However, it will take more than four times as many votes to actually get a seat in parliament. In 2017 he was running for the party called Nye Borgerlige (New Conservatives) but was thrown out because of some extremist statements.

During the last year he has obtained an almost cult-like status among the very young who watch his videos on YouTube, and a number of young people show up to get a selfie with him when he makes his announced visits to social housing projects all over Denmark with a high number of ethnic minorities. However, most of the young ‘followers’ see him as a joke and a freak, but the residents whom he attacks with his hate speech and degrading statements are provoked. For this reason, an increasingly massive police protection has become necessary to secure him.

So far, the police spent 6 mio DKR to protect his events all over Denmark, but recently he was denied permission to ‘demonstrate’ in certain areas, which RP stated was an illegal refusal of his right to free speech. During his events he has often done things like burning the Quran or putting pigs ears between the pages. Once, his event in Blågårds Plads, Nørrebro (a part of Copenhagen city with many ethnic minorities) led to violent reactions, including throwing stones, vandalism and bonfires in the streets.

More than 30 Danish anti-racism organisations, among them Refugees Welcome, are preparing a complaint to Copenhagen Police for protecting his general events and for allowing his announced ‘demonstrations’ in most cases.

He was convicted for racism in Glostrup Court in April 2019 for statements in a video which was recorded close to the home of the spokesperson of Black Lives Matter Denmark. In the video RP makes connections between Africans and low intelligence, and this was found illegal. The video was uploaded to Stram Kurs’ YouTube channel, and therefore the court also found that it was used as propaganda. It is illegal according to Danish criminal law art. 266(1) to insult and degrade certain parts of the populations, and according to art. 266(2) it is an aggravating circumstance if this is done in a form of propaganda.

According to a number of Danish legal experts many of his statements and events do not fall under freedom of speech, which must be protected – but are in fact hate speech, which is illegal.

Some of his most extreme statements are from a speech he gave in Nyhavn, Copenhagen, in October 2016, recorded and put on YouTube. This could probably lead to a conviction under the even more serious article 136(1) in the Danish criminal act about encouraging to violence and crime, which can give up to 4 years in prison. He said the following:

“Civil war will come.” “There are hundreds of thousands who sit at home, making their weapons ready and practising to aim with their rifles.” “Our streets and alleys will be turned into rivers of blood, and the foreign enemies’ blood will end up in the sewers where the foreign enemies belong.” “It will be a duty for any Dane to arm himself.” “The foreign enemies (are) pathetic creeps whose death at this time will be both necessary and legal.” The whole speech was printed in Berlingske April 23.

Jørn Vestergaard, professor in criminal law at Copenhagen University, writes on his Facebook April 18: “Hate speech and free speech: Nobody has an unconditional right to slander religious scriptures and insist on hate speech with the purpose of creating social turmoil. When the police limits somebody’s right to decide where and when he/she will make such public provocations it is not endangering free speech as such. According to both Danish law and conventions it is quite legitimate to prevent gross abuse of the freedom rights.”

Professor in law Sten Schaumburg-Müller, Syddansk University, also finds that ”article 266(1) is an option, as it protects humans against insults based on for instance their religion.” About RPs statements where he says many people are waiting at home, preparing their weapons, he adds: “I clearly read this sentence as an encouragement to crimes. It is a violation of article 136(1) in the criminal act.” (Berlingske April 23)

Tyge Trier, attorney specialized in freedom of speech and human rights, refers in addition to the Danish criminal act also to the European Convention on Human Rights article 17 which contains a prohibition against abusing freedom of speech. “The Human Rights Convention articles 10 and 11 state a right to speak and gather freely in public, but if you abuse them they will lapse. “Burning the Quran or pouring urine over it in public space is not protected by freedom of speech. The European Court of Human Rights has a number of examples where freedom of speech cannot be claimed in relation to islamophobia, homophobia and denial of Holocaust. The practice of the court does not protect actions with an underlying message, for instance containing clear discrimination of a minority in combination with religious insults.” (Berlingske April 15)