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Summary
A Swedish court sentenced far-right activist Rasmus Paludan to four months in jail for inciting hatred against Muslims after he burned a Quran at two protests in Malmo in 2022.
The court ruled that Paludan’s remarks and actions went beyond permissible criticism of Islam, aiming instead to insult and defame Muslims, Arabs, and Africans. Paludan, a dual citizen of Sweden and Denmark, plans to appeal the verdict.
His Quran burnings previously strained Sweden’s relations with Turkey, complicating Sweden’s bid to join NATO.
No, it’s definitely not. You have to look at the social context of the act, not just the act itself.
To use the most obvious examples, burning an american flag in protest of the vietnam war is clearly an expression of political speech, whereas burning a cross on the lawn of an african-american family’s house is an incitement to violence.
A fascist burning the koran is clearly an incitement to violence and hatred, and not legitimate political speech worth protecting.
I would elaborate a bit more, and I think you have a good analogy with “burning a cross in a black family’s yard”.
Just like burning a cross to protest the church is different from burning it in someone’s yard to threaten them, burning a Quran in the context of protesting against (for example) the Iranian regime is different from burning the same Quran while simultaneously encouraging violence towards Muslims.