Rasmus Paludan

Rasmus Paludan (born 2 January 1982)[1] is a Danish politician and former lawyer. He is the leader of the far-right political party Hard Line,[2] which he founded in 2017. He is the older brother of poet Tine Paludan and writer Martin Paludan.[3]

For the bishop, see Rasmus Paludan (bishop).
Rasmus Paludan
Rasmus Paludan in June 2019
Born (1982-01-02) January 2, 1982
OccupationLawyer, politician
Political partyHard Line

He has acted as defence attorney in a number of cases involving self-styled "critics of the system" and proponents of medical cannabis,[4] but also in several cases involving immigrant asylum.[5]

Between September 2015 and August 2018 Paludan was employed as a lecturer at the law faculty of the University of Copenhagen in the areas of civil law and property law.[6]

In April 2019 he was convicted of expressing racist views (Clause § 266b in the Danish penal code).[7][8] He appealed to the High Court of Eastern Denmark, which confirmed the sentence.[9]

Paludan was in June 2020 sentenced to a three-month prison term, with two of the months suspended. He was in addition also barred from working as a lawyer for three years, and lost his driver's license for one year. The case included 14 different charges, and Paludan was found guilty in all of them. They included expression of racist views and an episode in Sorø where Paludan drove into a man when he tried to escape a situation where he felt threatened.[10][11]

Paludan is under constant police protection.[12]

Education

At 25 years old, Paludan held a bachelor's degree in law and had the ninth-highest average score among his fellow 187 students who finished their law degrees and started their degrees the same year.[13]

Policies and demonstrations

Rasmus Paludan and his party represent strong extremist views on Islam and non-western immigration. Paludan is extremely opposed to non-Western immigration and Islam's presence in Denmark. He is well known for his numerous happenings and political demonstrations, often in areas with many Muslim immigrants. During these demonstrations he has presented anti-immigrant and racist statements and taunted Muslims (and Islam as a whole) who have shown up to show their opposition to him. At his protests, Paludan has burned the Quran and defaced it in other ways that many Muslims find offensive. Videos of the subsequent confrontations are shared on YouTube where his party has gathered a large following.[4]

Rasmus Paludan calls for putting expelled foreign citizens unwilling and unable to travel back to their country in detention camps in North-Eastern Greenland.[14]

In June 2020, Paludan held a demonstration in Aarhus, when a 52-year-old man pulled out a knife entered the cordoned-off area and ran towards Paludan. Police fired a warning shot but the assailant did not lay down his weapon whereupon police open fired and wounded the assailant in the leg.[15] In the aftermath, there was unrest in the area: police were hit by fireworks, and rocks were thrown by other assailants in the Gellerup area of Aarhus.[16]

Controversies

In January 2013, Paludan was given a 5-year restraining order, forbidding him to contact a then 24-year-old man whom he had been stalking since 2010, when they both started to study Latin at University of Copenhagen.[17][18] Despite the restraining order, the harassment continued until December 2013.[18] In 2015 Paludan was sentenced to a fine for offending the police officer who handled the stalking case.[17]

Paludan has stated a desire to ban Islam in Denmark,[19] and to deport all Muslims from the country,[20] reportedly for the preservation of its ethnic community.[21]

In April 2019, Paludan held a demonstration in Viborg that led to chaos, when 100 people showed up. Three people were arrested, and, in June 2019, a 24-year-old Syrian was sentenced to 60 days in jail for having thrown a rock at Paludan. He was also to be deported after the jail term and was banned from returning to Denmark for six years.[22]

References
  1. Ritzau (7 May 2019). "Overblik: Stram Kurs vil lede landet og forbyde islam". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish).
  2. Stram Kurs (4 December 2018). English intro to Rasmus Paludan and Hard Line political party (24 NOV 2018). Retrieved 25 April 2019 – via YouTube.
  3. Tuxen, Mathias (2019-04-19). "Rasmus Paludans søster har droppet kontakten" (in Danish). Retrieved 2019-07-01.
  4. William Kristensen (15 April 2019). "Fra cykelstiens vogter til frihedens soldat". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish).
  5. https://www.information.dk/indland/2016/10/kan-rasmus-paludan-forsvare-udlaendinge-samtidig-vaere-pegida
  6. Holm, Line Tolstrup; Jessen, Chris Kjær; Jensen, Henrik; Pedersen, Lars Nørgaard (2019-05-23). "Universitet ansatte Paludan som underviser – trods flere års chikane og klagesager samme sted". Berlingske.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  7. Daniel Lingren (5 April 2019). "Islamkritikeren Rasmus Paludan dømt for racisme". Berlingske.
  8. "Formand for partiet Stram Kurs er dømt for racisme" (in Danish). DR. 5 April 2019.
  9. Ingvorsen, Emil Søndergård (4 July 2019). "Landsretten: Rasmus Paludan får 14 dages betinget fængsel for racisme". DR (in Danish). Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  10. Dalsgaard, Louise (25 June 2020). "Rasmus Paludan idømt tre måneders fængsel og fratages advokattitel i tre år". DR (in Danish). Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  11. Stie, Hans-Henrik Busk (25 June 2020). "Rasmus Paludan idømt tre måneders fængsel". TV 2 (in Danish). Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  12. Frydendahl, Lise Soelberg (11 March 2020). "Når Rasmus Paludan sover, må betjente sidde otte timer i en bil uden adgang til toilet". DR (in Danish). Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  13. "Hjemmeside afslører kriminelle cyklister - især på Østerbro". Politiken (in Danish). 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  14. "Stram Kurs vil deportere de fleste i Vollsmose: - Vi har kun ét hjemland, og det skal vi værne om" [Hard Line wants to deport most people in Vollsmose: - We have only one homeland, and we shall protect it.]. Fyens (in Danish).
  15. "Mand skudt ved Paludan-demonstration - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2020-06-05. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  16. "To betjente ramt af kasteskyts efter skyderi i Aarhus". DR (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  17. Jensen, Henrik; Jessen, Chris Kjær; Holm, Line Tolstrup; Pedersen, Lars Hørgaard (15 May 2019). "Ung mand blev i flere år chikaneret af Rasmus Paludan. En dag dukkede partilederen op med et kamera i mandens barndomsby". Berlingske (in Danish). Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  18. Bruun, Nanna Bundgaard; Løvkvist, Kasper; Funding, Thomas (14 May 2019). "Rasmus Paludans tilholdssag: Læs hvordan han forfulgte og chikanerede ung mand i årevis". JydskeVestkysten (in Danish). Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  19. "New far-right party seen entering Danish parliament: opinion poll". Reuters. 6 May 2019.
  20. "Danish Politician Seeks Voters 'Where They Are': On a Porn Site". New York Times. 15 May 2019.
  21. "Danish far-right party calling for Muslim deportation to stand in election". The Guardian. 5 May 2019.
  22. "Mand udvist af Danmark for stenkast mod Rasmus Paludan - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2019-06-25. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
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