Denmark / District Court of Randers
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 Randers found the defendant guilty of incitement to hatred (hate speech). The defendant participated in a debate on
the Facebook page of a Danish newspaper and wrote among other things the following to the victim; "Fuck you, you Quran fascist" and continued with a longer rant.
Main reasoning/argumentation
The District Court found him guilty of incitement to hatred as the statements targeted not only the victim, but Muslim citizens of Arabic descent in general.
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
Suspended sentence of 20 days with the condition of 40 hours of community service
Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details
"Byretten lagde vægt på, at udtalelserne var fremsat på Facebook som led i den offentlige debat, og at udtalelserne var rettet både direkte med forurettede men også mere generelt mod en gruppe af personer af arabisk afstamning med muslimsk religion bosat i Danmark og med en anden etnisk oprindelse end dansk"
"The City Court took into account that the statements were posted on Facebook as part of the public debate and they were targeting not only the victim but also more generally a group of persons with Arabic descent and Muslim religion residing in Denmark and with another ethnic origin than Danish."