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Man convicted of hate speech against Islamists

Sandnes & Jæren District CourtJæren District Court.Photo: Kent Skibstad / Scanpix

A 52 year old man from Sandnes has been  convicted of   hate speech by jæren district court for  having written that “traitors and Islamist knobs” must be removed from  surface of the earth.

The  52-year-old was fined 15.000 kroner for the statement ,  the newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad writes. The statement was made on the open Facebook profile of the Pegida supporter Merete Hodne.
The man was also sentenced to have saloon rifle that he possessed,but which he had no permission to own, taken away from him.

The matter could have been resolved out of court, but 52-year-old refused to accept a fine of 15,000 kroner. The prosecutor, police prosecutor Øyvind Haukland, wanted him to pay a fine 18,000 kroner , but the court decided that 15,000 was enough.

– I note that the district court agrees with the assesment of the prosecution. I believe the verdict confirms that the police are entitled to monitor the social media, and also to crack down on what we feel is hate speech,  Haukland says.

– Generally speaking, I will say that hate speech and illegal storage of weapons is an unfortunate combination, he said before the case came up for trial.
Associate Trine Vabø, who was the  lawyer of the 52-year-old, said before the case came up that her client acknowledged the facts.
– He wrote these things, but he denies culpability, she said to newspaper Rogaland Avis.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today