The Sweden Democrats decided at their regional congress in Örebro that the party will push for a comprehensive reform of the law on incitement against ethnic groups. The decision was preceded by a lively debate and the vote was even: 79-78.
Several motions to abolish the law had been submitted and they were supported by a number of representatives in the rostrum.
The law is not working as intended. It creates arbitrariness, silences debate and punishes statements that pose no real threat, says Julia Fält, representative from Fyrbodal.
It has been more or less established through practice that Swedes cannot be subjected to incitement against an ethnic group. However, a large number of legal cases have come to light for the "ethnic group" drag queens, which is quite telling, says Petter Nilsson, a representative from Västerbotten.
Does not protect Swedes
The discussion about the law on incitement against an ethnic group has been going on for a long time within the SD. One criticism has been that the law does not protect the majority population, that is, Swedes, and that the law is currently applied arbitrarily and restricts freedom of expression in an unjustified manner.
But the party board does not want to go so far as to scrap the law completely. Instead, they want SD to work for a comprehensive reform of what it should cover. In interviews ahead of the state assembly, party secretary Mattias Bäckström Johansson has clarified that they want the law to be about “ethnic groups”, not, for example, incitement based on sexual orientation or religious affiliation.
“Big mistake”
Julia Kronlid, Member of Parliament and member of the party board, argued for the party board's line.
"I really understand the frustration that may exist. But we must not forget the background to the law, with the persecution that was going on against Jews and the Holocaust," says Julia Kronlid.
Given the increasing anti-Semitism, I think it is a big mistake to remove the law. It will be presented completely incorrectly. Our party leader Jimmie Åkesson will have to stand in interview after interview and answer the question "why go to the polls to ban hate speech against a group of people".
