On Wednesday, Swedish police authorities permitted a Quran-burning demonstration outside a mosque in central Stockholm. The Quran burning protest will take place on the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha, one of the most important in the Islamic calendar.
Swedish security officials stated in a written statement that the permit was granted because “the security risks associated with the burning were not of a nature that could justify, under current laws, a decision to reject the request.”
This police clearance came two weeks after a Swedish Appeal Court overturned the police’s decision to reject permits for two demonstrations in Stockholm that included the burning of the Muslim holy book, the Quran.
In mid-June, the appeal court ruled that the police were wrong to ban the protest, stating that “the order and security problems” highlighted by the police did not have “a sufficiently clear connection to the planned event or its immediate vicinity”.
At the time, police cited security concerns in the aftermath of the January burning of the Muslim holy book outside Turkey’s embassy, which spurred weeks of protests and calls for a boycott of Swedish goods, complicating Sweden’s NATO membership bid.
Turkey, which has denied the request due to Stockholm’s reluctance to take action against Kurdish groups it considers “terrorists,” took offense that the January protest had been authorized by the police.
This made the police deny two more requests for protests including Quran burnings outside the Turkish and Iraqi embassies in Stockholm, one by a single person and one by an organization.
The same private individual who had his earlier request denied requested the Wednesday rally.
Salwan Momika, 37, wrote in the application, “I want to protest in front of the large mosque in Stockholm, and I want to express my opinion about the Quran… I will tear up the Quran and burn it”.
Lawmakers in Sweden have condemned the Quran burnings protest while emphasizing the importance of free expression.
