Swedish Appeals Court to Rule on Pastor

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A Swedish pastor convicted of hate crimes after branding homosexuals a “cancer” in a sermon has won support for his appeal from clergymen and free speech advocates who see the case as a challenge to freedom of religion and expression.

Aake Green, 63, was convicted last year for using inflammatory speech against homosexuals during a 2003 sermon in which he said gays were more likely than others to rape children and animals. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

A court is set to rule Friday on Green’s appeal of the verdict and sentence, which many human rights groups and politicians in Sweden have lauded. But some religious leaders and free speech advocates are casting the case as a direct challenge to freedom of speech and religion.

“Are we priests supposed to let a lawyer go through our sermons before we preach God’s word from the pulpit?” asked Ralph Toerner, a priest from the Swedish branch of the British-based Holy Catholic Church. “That’s where we may be heading.”

Prosecutors say Green stepped over the line when he told a congregation on the small southeastern island of Oeland that homosexuals were “a deep cancer tumor on all of society.” He warned congregants that Sweden risked a natural disaster because of its leniency toward gays.

“Homosexuality is something sick,” Green said. He compared it with pedophilia and bestiality, saying gays were more likely to rape children and animals.

Toerner said he did not agree with everything Green said.

“What I’m interested in is his right to express it,” he said.

Green said he doubts Friday’s ruling will be the final word because the losing side is likely to appeal to the Supreme Court.

“I think the Supreme Court will have to look at this as well, since it’s a pretty special case,” he told the AP in a telephone interview Thursday from his home on Oeland. “So I’m not very nervous.”

Green said it’s not the month in prison he’s worried about, but “the freedom to preach God’s word.”

Sweden’s tough hate crimes laws makes it illegal to make inflammatory remarks against racial, religious or national groups. It was ratified in 2001 to include homosexuals.

A district court sentenced Green in June 2004. Prosecutor Kjell Yngvesson argued that Green - who invited several newspapers to hear the sermon - “expressed disdain for the homosexuals as a group. He compared the sermon to a racist shouting out the Nazi salute “Sieg Heil.”

Johanna Nystroem, a spokeswoman for RFSU, the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education, said she hopes Green’s sentence will be upheld.

“To say these things in a public setting is to call for action (against gays),” said Nystroem. “It’s one thing to be against homosexuality, but when you’re urging people to take action in the way he did, it’s a completely different matter.”

Not all religious leaders are supporting Green. Swedish Archbishop Karl Gustav Hammar has denounced his sermon, calling it “a miserable theology,” and said the case should not be seen as a threat to religious freedom.

“It’s not a question of the freedom of the pulpit,” Hammar said. “The sermon was evidently sent out to the media to create a reaction.”

Whatever the outcome, Green said he hopes it will influence Swedish lawmakers.

“I hope the authorities are affected by this, so that we’ll see a change in the law, allowing us to preach God’s word,” he said.

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