Hate Speech Laws In Denmark

Hate speech in Denmark is outlawed by § 266b of the penal code, colloquially called the racism paragraph (''racismeparagraffen''), which outlaws threats, mockery and degradation against groups defined by race, skin colour, nationality, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. The law was originally introduced in 1939, prompted by the antisemitism of 1930s Germany, which had spread to Denmark.

The number of charges and convictions under the hate speech law has increased during the 2010s. While there were 24 charges in 2010, the number had doubled to 48 in 2019. The number of convictions rose from 1 to 12 in the same period.

Wording

The racism paragraph appears in chapter 27 (violations of peace and honour) of the penal code:

A corresponding paragraph exists in the Greenlandic penal code as § 100.

Background

The first version of the law stems from 1939, where its purpose was to protect the Danish Jews.:

The wording was changed in 1971, by the incorporation of the UN convention on racial discrimination. The paragraph was expanded to cover sexual orientation in 1987. The subclause stating that propaganda is an aggravating factor was added in 1995.

The 1971 change, whereby the term ''race'' was added, was highly controversial. The change was proposed by conservative Minister of Justice Knud Thestrup. Among opponents were MPs Poul Dam ( SF) and later Preben Wilhjelm ( VS).Lovligt racistisk
Information, 26 July 2007 Poul Dam noted that this would be the first time the Nazi category of "race" gained a place in Danish legislation. Søren Krarup (who would become MP for DF) also opposed the law in general, and specifically the usage of the "vulgar Darwinistic and purely biological" concept of ''race''.

Accuracy of statements

A property of trials under this paragraph is that the accused is not entitled to provide proof for the possible veracity of statements made. In a memo from the national attorney, it is written:

The national attorney further writes:

True statements may be covered by § 266 b. In a commented edition of the particular part of the penal code, Vagn Greve explains that

Select cases

Faith and origin

Mogens Glistrup

Mogens Glistrup, founder of Fremskridtspartiet, has been convicted of hate speech thrice. The Supreme Court sentenced him to seven days of suspended prison for aggravated racist statements on TV in 1997, where he referred to Muslims as "criminals of the world" who wanted to subject the Danes to "castration and murder", and stated that "anyone who has studied Mohamedanism knows that they are only here to ingratiate themselves until they are strong enough to execute us". The Supreme Court found this to be an "aggravated mockery and degradation of a population group on the basis of its faith and origin." In 2003, he was sentenced to 20 days of unsuspended prison for, in the context of his reentry into Fremskridtspartiet, having said, among other things, that "Mohamedans should be round up, gathered in camps and sold to the highest bidder". Finally, in October 2004, he was sentenced to 30 days suspended prison at Østre Landsret for statements made at a caucus and in a TV program in 2001.

Studiemagasinet and Dansk Folkepartis Ungdom

In October 2002, Morten Messerschmidt, Kenneth Kristensen Berth and two other former board members from Dansk Folkeparties Ungdom were sentenced to 7 days' suspended prison violating subsection 1 of § 266. They were, however, acquitted of violating subsection 2. The offending uttering was a 2001 advertisement in Studiemagasinet, with the text: "Mass rape, aggravated violence, insecurity, forced marriages, oppression of women, gang crime. This is what a multiethnic society offers us", accompanied by a picture of three hood-clad, blood-stained individuals presenting the Quran.

An extract of the comments from the court follows:

(...) e message is sent that an identification may be made between faith in the Quran on one hand and mass rape, aggravated violence, insecurity, forced marriages, oppression of women and gang crime on the other. (...) The image very clearly – in part by the central placement of the Quran in the picture – refers to a specific group of people characterized by their faith. The ad and poster hereby present a population group for hatred due to its faith and origin, and the message is highly mocking and degrading to people of Muslim observance.

The two editors of the magazine were each sentenced to five fines of each 500 DKK.OVERBLIK Disse politikere er også dømt for racisme. Artikel på dr.dk 4 July 2019.
/ref>

Sexual orientation

Emmy Fomsgaard

In 1990, Emmy Fomsgaard was charged for having written in a letter to the editor "is a homophile not a form of thief? Does he not steal his neighbour's honour, and perhaps his life, by exploiting him and perhaps giving him AIDS? Homosex is the most disgusting form of fornication". Fomsgaard was acquitted both in the court of Skjern and in Vestre Landsret, although the judges were split 3–3 in the latter instance. In this context, it was specified that direct quotes from the Bible were not subject to § 266b.

Bruno Hollendsted

In 2001, Landsforeningen for bøsser og lesbiske reported Bruno Hollendsted, a parliamentary candidate from Kristeligt Folkeparti, for having said: "homosexuality is an abnormal sexual malformation related to pedophilia and necrophilia. This sort of relation is beyond thought – indeed, not even lower primates establish themselves in this manner of living together... I would probably say that homosexuality is a disability.” The report was rejected by the ''politimester'' in Aalborg, and later by the state prosecutor.

Religion

Lars Hedegaard

In 2010, Lars Hedegaard was charged for having said, in a 2009 online interview:

''"But they rape their own children. And you hear that all the time that girls in Muslim families are raped by their uncles or cousins or their father. There was a recent book that came out in Norway, written by a Somalian girl. It was called "Se oss" ('see us, note us, notice us') – where she talks about conditions of Somali families in Norway. She was raped by her uncle. Her mother and her mother's friends and her father made no protest. Women are basically – how could i describe it – they have no value. They are not human beings. They have a function as wombs. They bear the offspring of the warriors to create new warriors. Other than that, they – well, they can be used for sexual purposes, but they have no value."''

Lars Hedegaard was reported by Yilmaz Evcil, vice-chairman of the Integration Committee of Aarhus, and the state prosecutor made the indictment. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which unanimously acquitted Hedegaard. The court found that it had not been proven that the statements, which were made in a private setting, were made with intent for publication.

Jesper Langballe

In 2010, MP Jesper Langballe was sentenced to ten fines of 500 DKK because of an article in Berlingske Tidende on 22 January 2010. Under the header "Islam's benighted view of women", he had written "Of course Lars Hedegaard shouldn't have said that there are Muslim fathers who rape their daughters, when the truth instead seems to be that they make do with killing the daughters (the so-called honour killings) – and furthermore turn a blind eye to the rape of uncles."''

Hizb ut-Tahrir

In 2002, Hizb ut-Tahrir printed pamphlets reading:

"And kill them wherever you find them, and expel them from whence they expelled you. (...) The Jews are a slanderous people, and they are a people that betray, break promises and pacts, make up lies and twist words from the right context, they unjustly take away rights, and they have killed prophets and kill innocent people, and they are most brutal in their enmity towards the Muslims, and Allah has forbidden us from taking them as loyal friends."

The first sentence was a quote from the Quran. The spokesman of the Danish chapter, Fadi Abdullatif, was sentenced to 60 days' suspended prison in October 2002.

Firoozeh Bazrafkan

In a 2011 blog entry on the website of Jyllandsposten

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