Runar Søgaard (born 27 June 1967 in

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aust ...

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

, Norway) is a Norwegian leadership trainer, life-coach, motivational speaker and former

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

. He was earlier married to singer

Carola Häggkvist Carola Maria Häggkvist (; born 8 September 1966), commonly known simply as Carola, is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She has been among Sweden's most popular performers since the early 1980s and has released albums ranging from pop and disco ...

. In 2012 his business Vinger Consulting AB was threatened with bankruptcy following a lawsuit by On Strategies LLC.

Activism

In April 2005 he created some reaction during a speech in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, by saying that the

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

had been a

pedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puber ...

. This led to some condemnation and protests. During the same sermon he also made disparaging remarks about

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and

Siddharta Siddhārtha is the male given name of the founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha. Siddhartha, Siddartha, or Siddharth may also refer to: Books * ''Siddhartha'' (novel), about a fictional contemporary of the Buddha, by Hermann Hesse * ''Siddhartha ...

. Søgaard received threats from radical

Islamists Islamism is a range of Religion, religious and Politics, political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is su ...

. Author and columnist

Jan Guillou Jan Oskar Sverre Lucien Henri Guillou (, ; born 17 January 1944) is a French-Swedish author and journalist. Guillou's fame in Sweden was established during his time as an investigative journalist, most notably in 1973 when he and co-reporter Pet ...

at the

Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lar ...

news paper called for calm and wrote "it would be of great harm for Sweden's Muslims if Søgaard was harmed".

Legal problems

In November 2014, Søgaard was convicted for a third time of violating accounting laws, and sentenced by

Nacka Nacka () is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to a 16th-century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mi ...

district court to two months of prison. He served his two-month sentence, by wearing an

ankle monitor The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...

. In 2019 he was convicted for tax evasion. In 2021 he lost in appellate court and was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison. As of 11 June 2021, he is planning to appeal to the Supreme Court. according to Søgaard's lawyer.

Personal life

From 1990 to 2000 Søgaard was married to the successful Swedish singer

. Together they have a son, Amadeus, born in 1998. He married for a second time in 2008 and has two sons in that marriage.

References

1967 births Living people People from Kongsvinger Norwegian emigrants to Sweden Norwegian critics of Islam Norwegian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Sweden Life coaches {{Sweden-bio-stub