Swedish police say disqualified Dutch Eurovision contestant Joost Klein likely to face charges
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Joost Klein, the Netherlands’ Eurovision contestant who was disqualified from the competition just hours before the grand final, will probably be charged with making illegal threats, Swedish police have said.
The 26-year-old favourite to win was expelled from the competition in Malmö, unprecedented in the 68-year history of Eurovision, after a female member of the production crew made a complaint about an alleged “backstage incident” to Swedish police.
Police spokesperson Jimmy Modin told the Guardian that their investigation was over and that a decision on the charges should come “within the next couple of weeks”. He did not say what the nature of the alleged threats were.
“We expect there will probably be a prosecution,” Emil Andersson, the police officer in charge of the case, told Swedish broadcaster SVT. He said an “accelerated prosecution”, a process that takes around six to eight weeks, will be likely as the altercation did not involve a more serious crime.
The Sydsvenska daily, a Malmö newspaper, said that the crime of making threats usually leads to fines upon conviction.
After Klein was expelled, Dutch broadcaster Avrotros said it was “shocked” by the decision and said that while Klein made a “threatening move” towards a female camera operator, he had not touched her.
“Against the clearly made agreement, Joost was filmed when he had just gotten off stage and had to rush to the green room. At that moment, Joost repeatedly indicated that he did not want to be filmed. This wasn’t respected,” Avrotros said.
The broadcaster claimed it had offered “several solutions” to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs Eurovision, but Klein was ejected anyway.
Organisers would not give more detail of the alleged incident during the competition, but clarified that it “did not involve any other performer or delegation member” due to rumours it had involved Israel’s delegation, amid tensions between contestants around the Israel-Gaza war.
The EBU confirmed several contestants and delegations had lodged complaints. Portugal’s national broadcaster RTP has complained about a delay in posting their contestant Iolanda’s performance to YouTube after the final, with the EBU saying the delay was due to Iolanda having her nails painted designs inspired by the keffiyeh – Palestinian scarves used to show support for the country.
Ireland’s contestant, Bambie Thug, also confirmed they made multiple complaints in the run-up to the final and accused Israeli broadcaster Kan of “inciting violence” against them during its coverage of their performance.
During the first semi-final, a Kan commentator said Bambie Thug had “spoken negatively about Israel”, adding: “But we can talk about that later. Prepare your curses.”
This may have been a reference to a lyric about placing a hex on an ex in Bambie Thug’s song, but the performer said they felt it crossed a line.
“The broadcaster [Kan] has disobeyed the rules and I hope next year [Israel] won’t be able to compete because of that,” Bambie Thug told reporters after the contest.
Some contestants described the atmosphere behind the scenes this year as “tense” and “horrible”, as thousands protested outside on the streets of Malmö calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Photo: Joost Klein, the Netherlands’ Eurovision contestant. Sarah Louise Bennet/EBU
