Racism case against Morten Messerschmidt dropped

The Danish public prosecutor has dropped racism charges against Danish People’s Party chairman Morten Messerschmidt. Initially accused of breaching the so-called racism paragraph (section 266b of the criminal code) for a 2023 social media post, he has expressed relief, calling the decision a victory for freedom of speech. The post in question featured an image captioned ‘Denmark today’ with three light-haired women, and ‘Denmark in 10 years’ showing hooded, bloodstained men displaying the Koran. Originating from a 2002 Danish People’s Party Youth (DFU) recruitment campaign, it had led to a guilty verdict for Messerschmidt. However, the allegation is now seen as unprovable in light of subsequent events, such as Hamas’ attacks against Israel, and cannot be directly compared to the 2002 case. Messerschmidt deems the previous charge as undue harassment and is pleased that it’s been deemed lawful, reaffirming his stance on the importance of protecting free speech.