2023-09-04 04:02:50
Swedish police arrested more than ten people on Sunday after scenes of violence in Malmö (South) following a rally during which a copy of the Koran was once again burned.
This Sunday’s rally, organized by Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, on the initiative of similar events that angered the Muslim world, took place in a square in Malmö, where a large immigrant population lives. According to the public television channel SVT, some 200 people came to watch the scene.
According to the media, spectators threw stones at Salwan Momika. A video shows protesters trying to break the police cordon before being stopped by the latter. Another video shows a man trying to stop the police vehicle carrying Salwan Momika to take him away from the scene.
“Spectators showed their emotion after the organizer burned the writings,” police said in a statement. “The atmosphere was stormy,” police continued, adding that “violent riots” broke out at 1:45 p.m. (11:45 GMT).
According to the police, the rally ended after the organizer left, but a group of people remained behind. A dozen people were arrested for disturbing public order and two others arrested on suspicion of having participated in violent riots.
Diplomatic tensions in the Middle East
At the end of July, Salwan Momika, 37, and another man, Salwan Naja, had trampled on a copy of the Koran in Stockholm before setting it on fire, as they had done at previous rallies which had caused diplomatic tensions between Sweden and countries in the Middle East.
Iraqi protesters twice attacked the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in July, sparking a fire inside the diplomatic mission in the second assault.
VIDEO. Koran burnt: the Swedish embassy set on fire by demonstrators in Iraq
The Swedish government has condemned the desecrations of the Koran while stressing that the Constitution of Sweden protects the right of assembly and freedom of expression.
In mid-August, the Swedish Security Service announced that it had raised the terrorist alert level to 4 on a scale of 5, the strong reactions aroused abroad by the desecrations of the Koran on Swedish soil making the country a “priority target”. In early August, Sweden also decided to tighten border controls.
Neighboring Denmark, where public desecrations of the Koran have also taken place, has announced plans to ban burnings of the holy book of Muslims. Sweden is considering legal ways to do this too.
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