Man who dressed as Hitler cleared

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JONKOPING, Sweden, March 8 (UPI) -- A Swedish court threw out hate crime charges against a 24-year-old man who went to a costume party dressed as Adolf Hitler.

The Jonkoping District Court ruled the man did not intend to appear threatening or disrespectful to any group when he donned a costume resembling the Nazi dictator, complete with a swastika armband and small mustache, the Swedish news agency TT reported Friday.

"My client went to a costume party and the point wasn't to express some political or other view. Rather, it was simply to represent a Nazi," attorney Mats Erfors said. "He wasn't walking around the city with a swastika."

However, the man was convicted on weapons charges after a shotgun and a stun gun were found at his apartment.