Denmark / District Court of Svendborg
Country
Denmark
Year
Decision/ruling/judgment date
Incident(s) concerned/related
Related Bias motivation
Groups affected
Court/Body type
Court/Body
Key facts of the case
The District Court of Svendborg found the defendant guilty of incitement to violence (hate speech). The defendant had participated in a debate on
the Facebook page of a group that was against mosques in Denmark, writing: "Jubiiiii death on all Muslims" . The defendant was accused of violating
the law by making a statement that threatens, degrades or demeans a group of persons.
Main reasoning/argumentation
The District Court argued that the defendant’s statements targeted citizens with a Muslim background. The court found the fact that the statements were intended to reach a broader audience to be an aggravating circumstance.
Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?
Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case
No key issues can be drawn on the basis of
this particular case.
Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case
5 daily penalties of 500 DKK
Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details
"Retten fandt, at udtalelsen var en trussel mod mennesker med muslimsk baggrund. Retten lagde ved straffastsættelsen i skærpende retning vægt på, at at T's udtalelser kom ud til en vid kreds af mennesker. I formildende retning lagde retten vægt på, at T selv trak udtalelsen tilbage indenfor 1-2 timer"
"The Court found that the statement was a threat towards persons with a Muslim background. When assessing the case the court took into consideration on the one hand that the statements reached a broad audience and on the other hand the accused deleted the statement within 1 or 2 hours."