The leader of the Swedish Islamic Nyans Party has been revealed to have been convicted and fined for violent crime by a Turkish court over an incident that took place in 2009.
Nyans leader Mikail Yüksel is said to have been convicted of minor violence and subjected to a fine by a Turkish court as the party looks to gain seats in the Swedish parliament ahead of this month’s September 11th national elections.
Yüksel has denied any crime and claimed to be innocent and when the documents showing his conviction were presented to him. He said that the document lacked the proper stamps and signatures, Sveriges Radio reports.
According to the broadcaster, the Islamic party leader acknowledged that there had been a legal process against him previously, but he claimed he could not recall a judgement made by the court in the case.
He added that he did not believe the documents obtained by the broadcaster would affect him or his party’s chances in the upcoming elections.
The Nyans party is said to be looking to gain seats in the Swedish parliament by targetting heavily migrant-populated areas in the suburbs of Sweden’s larger cities. It has campaigned on stopping Islamophobia and countering the alleged abuse of children by the Swedish social services.
A relatively new political party in Sweden, the Nyans party has campaigned previously on creating a special minority status for Muslims, alleging that members of the Islamic community in the country are subjected to daily violence and verbal attacks.
Mikail Yüksel is also not a stranger to controversy, and was once a member of the Swedish Centre Party before he was kicked out for his association with the ultranationalist Turkish Grey Wolves.
Yüksel is also not the first leader of an Islamic party in Europe to run afoul of the law, as the leader of Belgium’ss Islam party was convicted in 2019 for discriminating against a woman in 2018.
Redouane Ahrouch attempted to appeal the conviction but it was ultimately upheld by the Court of Cassation, Belgium’s supreme court, earlier this year.