!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->

Sweden: Quran Burning, Anti-Islam Rallies Lead to Riots, Warnings From Arab Nations

Sweden’s Justice Minister Morgan Johansson told the rioters to “Go home, immediately.”

April 18, 2022

Author

Statecraft Staff
Sweden: Quran Burning, Anti-Islam Rallies Lead to Riots, Warnings From Arab Nations 
IMAGE SOURCE: HINDUSTAN NEWS HUB

Violence broke out in several cities of Sweden over the Easter weekend as Muslim rioters disrupted anti-Islamic protests by Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the Danish far-right political party Hard Line.

At least 26 arrests have been made so far as Paudan, now a Swedish citizen, seeks to bolster his candidature ahead of Sweden’s legislative elections in September by visiting a number of neighbourhoods with large Muslim populations. He is currently seeking signatures to qualify as a candidate.

On Thursday, three police officers were given medical attention after a riot broke out in the eastern city of Linköping, where far-right demonstrators were planning a Quran burning session. Local newspaper Aftonbladet reported that 14 people were arrested at the Linköping demonstration. 

Responding to the incident, Sweden’s National Police Chief Anders Thornberg said in a statement released on Friday that “one of the most important tasks of the police… in a democratic society” is to “ensure that people can use their constitutionally protected rights to demonstrate and express their opinions.” “The police do not get to choose who has this right, but must always intervene in case of violation,” he said.

In a similar rally on Friday by far-right extremists, nine police officers were injured in similar clashes in the central city of Örebro, where four police cars were set on fire. Likewise, a bus and a number of other vehicles were set on fire in the southern city of Malmö on Saturday.

Violence was also reported in the eastern city of Norrköping on Sunday, where three people were injured after the police fired warning shots into a crowd of rioters. The incident took place after Paludan had said that he would hold a rally in the city on Sunday despite being turned down by the police. 

Local police said in a statement on their website that officers had “fired several warning shots” after coming under attack. “Three people seem to have been hit by ricochets and are now being cared for in hospital. All three injured have been arrested on suspicion of committing criminal acts,” the statement added. Additionally, Aftonbladet reported that several vehicles were set on fire as the violence unfolded and at least 11 people were detained.

Paludan is known for spearheading the anti-immigration and anti-Islamic Stram Kurs (Hard Line) movement. The politician has frequently threatened to burn copies of Islam’s holy book, the Quran. In 2019, Paludan, a Danish lawyer who also holds Swedish citizenship, found himself at the centre of a controversy after he burned a Quran that was wrapped in bacon. In 2020, as a result of several incidents of racism and hate speech, he was charged and sentenced to three months in jail in Denmark. He has been charged with several such short sentences for acts of discrimination and defamation since the formation of his party in 2017. In fact, he was briefly barred from entering Sweden for two years but can no longer be prevented from entering the country after acquiring citizenship in 2020. 

Calling Paludan a “right-wing extremist fool, whose only goal is to drive violence and divisions,” Sweden’s Justice Minister Morgan Johansson told the rioters to “Go home, immediately.” “Sweden is a democracy and in a democracy, fools also have freedom of speech. Those who attack the police are criminals. There is no other way to deal with them than to put up a hard fight,” he said.

The anti-Muslim far-right rallies are not unprecedented in Sweden. In 2020, protests broke out in Malmö, a city in southern Sweden that has a large migrant population, with around 300 participants. The meeting was conducted to discuss “Islamisation in the Nordic Countries.” During the event, the Quran, the holy book for Muslims, was set on fire. Consequently, six participants were charged with incitement of racial hatred and arrested. 

In 2016, Express.co.uk reported that following the rise in crime, Sweden’s National Criminal Investigation Service released a confidential report that detailed attacks on officers and pointed out 52 areas that were put on a “blacklist.” The list further divided areas into “risk areas” and “seriously vulnerable” zones. It also revealed that Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, had over 20 “no-go” areas for police, where over 75,000 people live. 

According to a report published by Brookings, Sweden received a record 162,000 applications for asylum primarily from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan in 2015. This influx of Muslim asylum seekers from war-torn countries has had a significant impact on Swedish politics. Sweden Democrats, a Swedish party that has roots in Neo-Nazism, has argued that the recent influx of predominantly Muslim immigrants has led to a surge in crime since the 2015-2016 migrant crisis. Therefore, several Swedes view refugees as a burden on the public finances of a country, which has one of the most generous welfare programs in the world.

The extreme violence was met with condemnation by Arab nations. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for instance, released a statement on Monday condemning the “deliberate” abuse of the Holy Qur’an, as well as provocations and incitement against Muslims. It further stressed the importance of concerted efforts to spread the values of dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence and emphasised renouncing “hatred, extremism, and exclusion.” The Kingdom also called for efforts to “prevent abuse of all religions and holy sites.” Similarly, Iraq summoned Sweden’s chargé d’affaires.

Author

Statecraft Staff

Editorial Team

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay updated with the latest news from around the globe