For some the Rev Ake Green is a Christian martyr facing jail simply for preaching that homosexuality is a sin. For others he is an odious bigot who should be locked up.

The case of the 63-year-old Pentecostal pastor from southern Sweden, who describes homosexuality as a "cancerous tumour in society", has set the principles of freedom of speech and religion against this Scandinavian country's efforts to protect groups from perse-cution.