Swedish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Abir Al-Sahlani has filed a police complaint against her Danish colleague, accusing him of racist hate speech after he allegedly told her to “go back to your country.”
Iraq-born Swedish MEP Abir Al-Sahlani reported Danish MEP Kristoffer Storm to the police, claiming he engaged in racist hate speech after telling her to “go home” following her criticism of anti-immigrant slogans voiced in the European Parliament.
Last month, after the European Parliament approved a controversial regulation aimed at expanding deportation measures across the European Union, several far-right lawmakers chanted, “Send them back,” during the plenary session.
In response, Al-Sahlani, a member of Sweden’s Centre Party, strongly condemned the far-right lawmakers during her speech in the chamber.
“I have never felt this unsafe in this Parliament,” Al-Sahlani said.
“The slogans were not directed at political opponents. They shouted, ‘Send them back.’ Those words were aimed at people whose only ‘crime’ was seeking a better life in Europe.”
Targeted on Social Media: “Cry More”
After her speech circulated widely on social media, two right-wing MEPs publicly targeted Al-Sahlani.
Finnish MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen of the Finns Party commented “Cry more” beneath a video of her speech. Meanwhile, Kristoffer Storm of the Denmark Democrats wrote that Al-Sahlani “should go home.”
Speaking on Wednesday, Al-Sahlani announced that she had filed a police complaint in Sweden against Storm on charges of racist hate speech.
Storm and Tynkkynen both rejected the allegations.
Storm argued that his remark “go home” was not racist, insisting that he simply meant Al-Sahlani should leave the parliamentary chamber and calm down if she found the debate upsetting.
Al-Sahlani dismissed that explanation, saying:
“People are intelligent enough to understand exactly what those words mean.”
Received Death and Abuse Threats
Following her public statements, Al-Sahlani said she received numerous messages of support but also became the target of death threats and abusive messages on social media.