A man who threatened to attack the Danish-Swedish politician and Quran burner Rasmus Paludan has lost his legal battle to regain his British citizenship. Although the man was never prosecuted for the threat, the British security service MI5 considers him an Islamist terrorist threat. The man has lived his entire life in the United Kingdom but was stripped of his citizenship while he was abroad.

The former delivery driver, referred to only as J4 in court documents, came to the attention of the security services in spring 2023. The background was that Rasmus Paludan planned to carry out a Quran burning in the British town of Wakefield in West Yorkshire. This has been reported by British media.

In a WhatsApp conversation in March of the same year, J4 shared a link to an Instagram post about Paludan’s planned action. The next day, he announced he intended to try to reach the location.

When an acquaintance asked whether the intention was to protest against Paludan, the man replied that he did not intend to protest but instead attack him. In this context, he used the derogatory term kuffar, a designation for non-Muslims common in Islamist rhetoric.

Security Service Saw a Terror Threat

The man was arrested after making these statements but was later released on bail. The British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) then decided not to pursue charges, and the restrictions previously imposed on him were lifted. However, for the MI5 security service, the case was not closed.

The agency assessed that the messages indicated J4 considered traveling to Wakefield to attack Paludan. The security service also concluded that the man was willing to carry out Islamist-motivated terrorist acts, either in the UK or abroad.

When J4 later traveled abroad with his then still-valid British passport, authorities recommended stripping him of his citizenship. He was simultaneously informed that his British passport had been invalidated and was to be surrendered within 31 days.

However, the man did not comply. Instead, he kept the passport and later used it to obtain residence permits in other countries.

Claimed the Threat Was Just Empty Talk

The man appealed the decision to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, a British special court that, among other things, handles migration cases involving national security.

His lawyers argued that the authorities had drawn far-reaching conclusions from a few social media messages. According to the defense, J4 was someone who liked to speak in dramatic terms and boast, but who lacked a real intention to use violence.

Even MI5 admitted that the man had not made any concrete preparations to attack Paludan. The security service nevertheless maintained its assessment that he posed a terror threat and believed that the withdrawal of his citizenship had effectively prevented him from engaging in Islamist terrorist activities in the UK.

The court accepted the authorities’ assessment. The judges found it reasonable to interpret the man’s messages as expressing an intent to attack Paludan. The fact that he had explicitly dismissed the idea of protesting and instead talked about an attack was given significant weight.

The court also found that J4 had provided false information to his own lawyer. A panel of judges, led by Judge Farbey, therefore rejected the appeal. The decision to strip the man of his British citizenship thus remains in effect.

Family Remains in the UK

According to court documents, J4 had lived in the United Kingdom all his life until he traveled abroad. His mother and brothers still reside in the country.

His identity is protected by a court order. The judges consider anonymity necessary to protect the man’s safety.

The British Home Office has previously used the same legislation against individuals considered to pose threats to national security. One high-profile case is Shamima Begum, who traveled to Syria to join the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS). She was stripped of her British citizenship in 2019.

Paludan Was Prevented from Entering the UK

Rasmus Paludan, a Danish-Swedish politician and founder of the Danish party Stram Kurs, has for several years provoked strong reactions through public Quran burnings, often conducted under extensive police protection.

In January 2023, he burned a Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. The action triggered a diplomatic conflict between Sweden and Turkey while Sweden’s NATO application was still awaiting Turkish approval.

Two months later, Paludan announced he was planning a similar action in Wakefield, UK. The background was a widely publicized incident in which a 14-year-old student had received death threats after a copy of the Quran was damaged.

Paludan wanted to draw attention to the incident by burning a Quran in the town. However, no Quran burning took place in the UK.

The then British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat decided to deny Paludan entry to the country, stating that his presence would not be conducive to the public interest.

Thus, Paludan’s planned manifestation was stopped, while the man who had voiced threats of attacking him later lost his British citizenship.