Denmark / District Court of Svendborg

Country

Denmark

Title

Denmark / District Court of Svendborg

View full Case

Year

2015

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Incident(s) concerned/related

Incitement to violence or hatred

Related Bias motivation

Religion

Groups affected

Muslims

Court/Body type

National Court

Court/Body

District Court of Svendborg

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."

DISCLAIMERThe information presented here is collected under contract by the FRA's research network FRANET. The information and views contained do not necessarily reflect the views or the official position of the FRA.