Swedish court nixes deportation of Palestinian who tried to torch synagogue

A Swedish court of appeals overturns a deportation order against a Palestinian man who firebombed a synagogue, saying he’d be in danger from Israel because of his crime if sent to the Palestinian Authority.

The Wednesday ruling by the Court of Appeals for Western Sweden is on a motion filed by one of three men who in June were convicted of the attempted arson of a synagogue in Gothenburg in December, hours after locals marched in the southern city against the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The appellant, who was not named in the Swedish media, was sentenced in June to two years in prison and ordered to be deported after serving that term. But whereas the appeals court kept in place the conviction, it overturned the deportation order citing Israel, the SVT broadcaster reports.

Since the man committed a crime that “could be perceived as a threat to other Jews,” and Israel “might be interested in the matter,” the appeals court ruled that one “cannot safeguard the man’s fundamental human rights if he is deported to Palestine,” the broadcaster quotes the judge as writing in his opinion.

The three Arabs who were convicted of trying to torch the synagogue were part of a group of more than a dozen men who hurled firebombs at the building. Teens from the local Jewish community were attending a party inside the synagogue complex at the time.

— JTA