Globalist elites continue to stifle free expression.
by Baron Bodissey
We have posted http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2007/06/skne-witch-trials.htmlabout the crime on the statute books in Finland and Sweden known as hets mot folkgrupp, which essentially means “defaming an ethnic group”. Needless to say, it’s only possible to defame third world immigrants. No one ever gets charged under the law for defaming Finns or Swedes — the latter, by the way, are now known in their own country as “persons of Swedish background”.
The latest victim of these ethnic witch-hunts is a politician in Skåne (South Sweden) who dared to make a potentially negative reference to some members of a protected ethnic group.
To make the incident poignantly ironic, Dahn Pettersson committed his inadvertent thought crime when he was attempting to draw attention to the plight of the homeless. Perfectly acceptable politically correct intentions are not good enough — Mr. Pettersson has veered from orthodoxy, and must be punished.Our Swedish correspondent LN sent us this translation from an article in yesterday’s Sydsvenskan:
Burlöv politician convicted of “agitation against an ethnic group”
The Burlöv politician Dahn Pettersson of the Alliance Party has been convicted of “incitement/agitation against an ethnic group” [hets mot folkgrupp.
He was sentenced to pay dagsböter, that is “fines in proportion to his daily income” to the total amount of SEK 18,000 ($2,570).
Mr. Pettersson was indicted for hets mot folkgrupp because he had written a petition to the municipal council. In the petition he argued that the large number of Kosovo Albanian immigrants to Sweden led to an increase of heroin smuggling.
According to the district court’s judgment, Dahn Pettersson’s petition without hesitation gives expression to disrespect/contempt and clearly deprecates the whole group of Kosovo Albanians and not just the small number that devote themselves to heroin smuggling.
The law of “incitement against an ethnic group” is a restriction of freedom of speech and therefore each statement must be assessed in its context, the district court points out. Objective criticism (criticism founded on facts) is not punishable, but according to the district court Dahn Pettersson’s petition clearly falls outside the boundaries for a impartial and trustworthy discussion.
The district court has also taken the European Convention about Human Rights into consideration. The stated aim of the petition was to raise the question about the situation of the homeless in the Burlöv Municipality in order to provide better conditions for them.
According to the court it is obvious that disparaging statements about Kosovo Albanians were not necessary in order to achieve the desired effect. [Ergo — the Thought Police have declared their verdict — LN Therefore the District Court is of the opinion that the European Convention does not prevent the sentencing of Dahn Pettersson.
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2007/06/muzzled-in-skne.html