"Salwan Najem has only exercised his constitutional rights. Salwan Najem's demonstrations are not directed against any ethnic group. Under all circumstances, this constitutes an incorrect legal assessment", writes his lawyer Mark Safaryan in the appeal to the Svea Court of Appeal, which was submitted on Friday.
Najem was convicted of four cases of incitement against an ethnic group, following the widely publicized Quran burnings he carried out together with Salwan Momika in Stockholm in the summer of 2023.
In connection with the public gatherings, which received extensive international attention and sparked outrage in large parts of the Muslim world, they wrapped Qurans in pork, kicked them, and made derogatory and degrading statements about Muslims, according to the indictment.
The Stockholm District Court found that the demonstrations "on each occasion" expressed contempt for the ethnic group Muslims and that the actions did not fall within the scope of freedom of speech.
Salwan Momika was shot to death in his home the evening before the district court verdict was to be announced. No one has been arrested for the murder.
