Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the far-right political party Stram Kurs, has lambasted Danish media for ignoring his inclusion on the infamous Al-Qaeda Hit-list – which pretty much makes this story an exclusive, if his claims are to be believed.
“Very recently Al-Qaeda called on all Muslims to kill those named on the list including me,” the lawyer told CPH POST.
“French, Finnish and other European newspapers wrote about it, but Danish media refrained.”
24-hour protection
On September 25, knife attacks on Charlie Hebdo staff in Paris – the satirical magazine is a long-time entry on the hit-list – raised the threat level, according to Paludan.
“The security services have upgraded my safety until they figure out whether or not there is a connection between the attack and being on the list,” he said.
According to Paludan, this includes a 24-hour bodyguard service.
Swedish entry issues
In the meantime, Paludan is adamant that being on the hit-list will not impact his mobility: “I’ve been under threat from Muslim terror groups for a long time.”
Nevertheless, Sweden has done its best to curtail his movements, preventing him from entering the country, where he wanted to protest that its immigration policy is a threat to the security of Denmark. In his absence, delegates burned the Koran at various rallies, including one in Malmo, which ended in a riot.
However, Paludan has applied for a passport as one of his parents is Swedish, and the Swedish migration board has already indicated his application is being processed.
Aware of the threat
Paludan is aware of the dangers of going to Sweden, as it has a large Muslim population, and it will be up to the country’s security services to protect him.
“If I were to travel to China, for instance, I believe there will be little security, as the risk of being killed in China is low because there are hardly any Muslims there,” he said.
Other Nordic members on the Al-Qaeda Hit-list include Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who drew the ‘bomb in a turban’ Mohammed cartoon, and Swedish artist Lars Vilks, whose presence in Copenhagen led to its 2015 Terror Shootings.
