The Dutch artist Joost Klein was disqualified from the European Championship in Malmö in May - after being reported to the police for unlawful threats. On Monday, prosecutor Fredrik Jönsson announced that he is dropping the investigation and that there will be no prosecution.
I have done so because I cannot prove that the act was intended to threaten the plaintiff or scare her. The decision is based on an overall assessment that I have made, he says.
According to the police investigation, the artist made a movement towards a TV woman's camera that some people perceived as threatening.
According to Jönsson, the situation arose when Klein was on his way from the stage to the "green room".
He is being filmed and has comments on it. He reacts to it in a very rapid sequence of events, he says.
"There is no legal case"
The news of the dropped investigation comes after Klein's defense attorney Jan-Åke Fält requested that additional hearings be held in the Netherlands.
More witnesses have been heard this summer. There were four or five people who were present during the European Championship. They have told how they perceived the event, says Fält to TT.
Joost Klein himself writes on Instagram that the past few months have been terrible.
"Even though I love being on stage, there was something that didn't feel right. Why did we have to wait so long for an answer? I felt uncertain every day, but I also knew the truth. There is no legal case against me, since no crime was ever committed."
Klein urges his followers to take care of each other and also takes the opportunity to make a statement against the company that "wants to protect its money" and tried to "use him" as a human shield without mentioning the company's name. The organization that chose to disqualify Joost Klein's contribution from the European Championship was the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
TT has been in contact with SVT, which does not want to comment on the decision to drop the investigation, but refers to EBU.
"It was EBU's decision to disqualify the Dutch contribution", writes a press spokesperson for SVT in an email.
Wants a meeting with EBU
The Dutch public service broadcaster Avrotros, which has criticized the disqualification of the artist from the competition, writes in a statement that it wants a meeting with EBU in the near future.
"We have always said that the disqualification was unnecessary and disproportionate. We are still deeply disappointed that Joost Klein's and the Netherlands' European adventure ended like this".
EBU's vice general director Jean Philip de Tender states in a written statement that the police investigation concerns whether Joost Klein committed a crime or not. For EBU, it was about inappropriate behavior and not breaking the organization's own rules.
The European Championship should be "a show for everyone and a safe place for employees, artists, guests, and fans", writes Jean Philip de Tender.
He emphasizes that EBU, like any responsible employer, "cannot tolerate inappropriate behavior" and that they still fully stand behind the decision to disqualify Klein.
Joost Klein, 26, is a Dutch musician and rapper who has released several albums.
He was born in the city of Leeuwarden.
According to a compilation by Spotify at the beginning of May, the song that Joost Klein performed in the final, "Europapa", was the most streamed during April.
