The Stockholm Court delivered a verdict on December 14 for former co-chair of Sweden’s Coordinating Center of Turkish Organizations Barbaros Leylani – who on April 9 made antiArmenian and xenophobic announcements at a rally in Stockholm, which was organized by several Azerbaijani, Turkish and Turkmen community organizations.
The Court’s verdict says Leylani is guilty of hate crime with aggravated circumstances against an ethnic group – under Article 16, paragraph 8, point 2 of the Swedish Criminal Code. The Stockholm District Court sentenced Leylani to a 2 year suspended sentence and a fine.
During the November 30 court session, the judge proposed to deliver a suspended sentence to Leylani and a fine, saying that by his announcements, he had made threats aimed at a specific group, which happened in the center of Stockholm.
His attorney asked to sentence him only to a fine, stating that his defendant was in an unstable mental state, was under the influence of strong medication and delivered the speech without preparation.
The Court upheld the Prosecution’s demand and found Leylani’s announcements to be a criminal offense.
During the April 9 rally in Stockholm, Leylani said in his speech: “It’s time for the Turkish nation to unite. The Turks are awakening, and end is coming for the Armenian dogs. Death to Armenian dogs. Death, death!”
