Denmark / Eastern High Court / U.2016.3158Ø

Country

Denmark

Title

Denmark / Eastern High Court / U.2016.3158Ø

View full Case

Year

2016

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Incident(s) concerned/related

Incitement to violence or hatred

Related Bias motivation

Religion

Groups affected

Muslims

Court/Body type

National Court

Court/Body

Eastern High Court

Key facts of the case

The Higher Court acquitted a man of incitement to hatred (hate speech). The defendant had an open Facebook profile and compared the ideology of Islam with Nazism and wrote that the migration of Islamists was destructive for the Danish society. The Higher Court did not find that the ideology of Islam was protected as such by the Danish Criminal Code and therefore acquitted him. The lower court had found him guilty.

Main reasoning/argumentation

The Higher Court stated that an ideology is not protected under the Danish criminal code in contrast to a religion.

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

This was the first case where the higher court made it clear that there is a difference between the ideology of Islam and the
religion itself.

Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case

Lower court:
4 daily penalties of 400 DKK or
4 days of prison

Higher court:
Acquitted

Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details

"Efter ordlyden af udtalelsen, der indeholder ordene »ideologien Islam« og »Islamister«, finder landsretten i overensstemmelse med tiltaltes forklaring, at udtalelsen var rettet mod islamisk ideologi og islamister. Da beskyttelsen i straffelovens § 266 b, stk. 1, efter ordlyden og bestemmelsens forarbejder ikke omfatter forhånelse mv. af en gruppe af personer på grund af deres ideologi, frifindes tiltalte for den rejste tiltale."

"After the wording of the statement that contains the words "the ideology Islam" and "Islamists" the Higher Court finds in accordance with the accused's testimony, that the statement was targeting Islamic ideology and Islamists. After the wording and the legislative history the Danish criminal code does not protect hate speech towards a group of persons because of their ideology. Therefore the accused must be acquitted."

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.