Far-right group
convicted for gay hate pamphlets
From thelocal.se on
the Web, July 6, 2006
The Swedish Supreme Court has
convicted four right-wing extremists under hate crime laws for distributing
anti-gay pamphlets outside a school.
The four handed out the leaflets together with three others in Söderhamn, 250km
north of Stockholm. The leaflets claimed, among other things, that "HIV
and AIDS appeared early in homosexuals, and their promiscuous lifestyles have
been one of the main reasons for this modern plague gaining a foothold."
All seven young men were convicted of agitation against minority groups in the
district court. Four of them took the case to the Court of Appeal, where
they were found not guilty.
The appeal court referred to the case of pastor Åke Green, who was cleared of
agitation against minority groups after an anti-gay sermon. Judges in that
case found that although he had broken Swedish law, the right to free speech in
the European Convention of Human Rights took precedence.
Prosecutors appealed the Söderhamn case to the Supreme Court, which reimposed
the four men's convictions. However, they were given lower sentences than
in the district court.
A 25-year old from Sundsvall who at the original trial was given two months in
jail was sentenced to a suspended sentence and fined 100 days' salary. A
25-year old from Gotenburg was given the same sentence in the district court,
and also received a suspended sentence and a fine from the Supreme Court.
A 19-year old from Sundsvall had the original punishment of one year's probation
reinstated, and a 21-year old, also from Sundsvall, was given a suspended
sentence and a fine, as in the district court.
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