Chief Councilor Nicklas Söderberg begins today's proceedings by telling about numerous attempts to contact Paludan to serve him with the indictment. Söderberg mentions phone calls, emails, and text messages over a longer period.
I called Rasmus Paludan repeatedly. He hung up on me.
In the end, Söderberg turned to Denmark, where Paludan resides, for legal assistance since one must be formally served to be convicted of a crime.
The Statute of Limitations Has Expired
The statute of limitations for the crime of insult expired on September 6 this year. The only formal notification of service is from September 12, more than a week after the statute of limitations had expired.
We will investigate whether he actively avoided the court in our judgment, says Söderberg.
Paludan responds that he is very well-known in Denmark and that many people therefore call him.
I may have hung up. I can't say if it's true. I don't remember.
I think it was a judge who called me when I was on my way to high mass, says Paludan, who is dressed in a suit and wearing a necklace with a large silver cross.
"Not Very Safe"
Paludan is charged with two counts of incitement to racial hatred and insult. The charges concern events in Malmö, both in April 2022 and in September of the same year.
On September 6, Paludan made statements about "Arabs and Africans", which constitutes incitement to racial hatred, according to prosecutor Adrien Combier-Hogg.
At the same time, Paludan directly addressed Lang Conteh with a series of insults in a way that has also led to charges of insult.
During the day, Conteh will give his testimony in Malmö District Court.
I don't really know what to say. He said I should go back to Africa. I don't feel very safe in Malmö after that, says he.
Paludan repeated the phrase "go home to Africa" 35 times into a microphone in front of Conteh, according to prosecutor Adrien Combier-Hogg.
Previously Convicted
In a video shown during the proceedings, it can also be heard that Paludan shouts "what have you done for Sweden" and "Africans don't belong in Sweden but in Africa".
Monday's proceedings in Malmö District Court only covered the charge of incitement to racial hatred. Paludan denies the crime and contests the charges in their entirety.
According to Combier-Hogg, Paludan has previously been convicted of two cases of Denmark's equivalent to incitement to racial hatred. In one of the cases, Paludan stated that Africans have low IQ.
