Sweden Ends Investigation of Barred Eurovision Contestant Joost Klein

Sweden has closed an investigation into the Dutch Eurovision contestant Joost Klein, who was disqualified from the 2024 final in Malmö after a camerawoman accused him of “threatening” behaviour, the prosecution authority has announced.

The singer was barred from performing his song Europapa just hours before the Eurovision final on 11 May, after a female member of the production crew claimed he had made a threatening movement towards her after his semi-final performance two days earlier.

The Dutch broadcaster responsible for Klein’s entry, Avrotros, said at the time that he had been filmed directly after coming off stage, “against clearly made agreements” and against his repeated indications that he did not want to be filmed, and that his disqualification was therefore “not proportional”.

On Monday, the Swedish prosecution authority said in a statement that it had come to the conclusion that Klein had made “a movement that hit the woman’s film camera”, but that the course of events “was fast and was perceived differently by the witness of the incident”.

“Today I have closed the investigation because I cannot prove that the act was capable of causing serious fear or that the man had any such intention,” said senior prosecutor Fredrik Jönsson.

The 68th edition of the multi-country song competition was marked by major pro-Palestine protests around the Malmö Arena in Sweden’s third largest city, with some criticising the organisers for allowing Israel to take part while engaged in an ongoing military conflict with Gaza.

At a tense press conference following the semi-final, several artists including Klein appeared to voice their frustration with the row over Israel’s inclusion overshadowing the competition.

Switzerland’s Nemo went on to win contest for the song The Code, becoming the first artist identifying as non-binary to claim victory.