Disqualified Dutch Eurovision contestant likely to face charges, say Swedish police

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 just hours before the final, in an unprecedented move in the 68-year history of Eurovision.

Joost Klein was suspended after a female member of the production crew made a complaint about an alleged “backstage incident” to Swedish police.

“We expect there will probably be a prosecution,” Emil Andersson, the police officer in charge of the case, told Swedish broadcaster SVT.

Mr Andersson also said that an “accelerated prosecution”, will likely take place as the altercation did not involve a more serious crime. This process takes around six to eight weeks and usually leads to a fine 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 expelled 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.

Irish contestant Bambie Thug, 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.

On Monday, the EBU issued a statement amid criticism over how the historically apolitical song contest handled tensions around the Israel-Gaza war, saying that they “regret” that some delegations “didn’t respect the spirit of the rules”.

“We spoke to a number of delegations during the event regarding various issues that were brought to our attention,” the EBU said.

“The EBU’s governing bodies will, together with the heads of delegations, review the events surrounding the [Eurovision song contest] in Malmö to move forward in a positive way and to ensure the values of the event are respected by everyone.”

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.