Several Muslim countries continued to complain to Sweden on Sunday about a protest earlier in the week in Stockholm where an Iraqi national set fire to a copy of the Koran, Islam’s holy book.
And this despite the fact that the Swedish government has repeatedly criticized the protests and pointed out that a court had previously ruled that the police were not authorized to stop the protests.
The man stepped on the book and set fire to several pages. Another man standing next to him filming with a smartphone had been carrying Swedish flags.
The Swedish authorities also later initiated investigations against the 37-year-old on suspicion of hate speech.
Iran postpones appointment of ambassador
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian said Tehran has put the appointment of a new ambassador to Sweden on hold.
He said that the administrative details have been finalized but that the new diplomat will not take up the post in Stockholm for the time being.
Iran, which spent much of last year violently repressing protesters demanding more political and religious freedom, called the Swedish chargé d’affaires earlier in the week to demand an explanation.
Demonstrators also demonstrated several times in Tehran, some of them burning Swedish flags in response.
Similar demonstrations took place in several Muslim countries this week, including a small one in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday.
Indonesian protesters signed a petition on Sunday condemning Wednesday’s Koran burning in Sweden. Credit: Donal Husni/ZUMA/picture alliance
Muslim countries are calling for a worldwide ban on burning the Koran
Also on Sunday, the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OiC), a 57-member organization based in Saudi Arabia, called for collective action to prevent future Koran burnings.
Following what it said was an “extraordinary” meeting of the body, it issued a statement calling on member states to “take unified and collective action to prevent the repetition of incidents of desecration of the Koran”.
The body’s secretary-general, Hissein Brahim Taha, “stressed the need to send a clear message” that such acts “are not ordinary Islamophobic incidents,” the statement said.
“We must constantly remind the international community of the urgent application of international law, which unequivocally prohibits any endorsement of religious hatred,” the statement said.
In most Muslim countries, burning the Koran is banned, and in some, including Saudi Arabia, public beheading can result in death.
Iraq has appealed to Sweden to return the Iraqi national behind the protest and put him on trial there.
Turkey also used the incident to question Sweden’s NATO bid again, after months of delaying Nordic candidate Finland during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sweden condemns protests again
The Swedish government again condemned the protests on Sunday, both in a public statement and in an email to a Swedish newspaper.
“Freedom of expression enjoys strong protection in Sweden. Of course, this does not mean that the government supports every opinion expressed. Even public gatherings that are perfectly legal can be divisive and offensive. Demonstrations like Wednesday’s are exactly that.” “Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country is introducing additional border security measures in response to the week’s events.
“It can be established, for example, that the man now under investigation for the offense of hate speech against a national or ethnic group following Wednesday’s events is an Iraqi national who only has a temporary residence permit in Sweden has,” the statement said.
The man behind Wednesday’s demonstration told a Swedish newspaper on Friday that he hopes to stage a similar action in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm again soon, possibly in the wake of protesters who briefly attempted to block the Iraqi embassy this week to storm the embassy of Sweden. Image: Stefan Jerrevång/TT/picture Alliance
The ministry went a step further in an email response to the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper, calling the protest by a Muslim who had renounced his faith “anti-Islamic” and saying that “the burning of the Koran or any other sacred text an insult” and a disrespectful act and a clear provocation.”
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called the protest “legal but not appropriate,” citing the Swedish courts’ failed attempt to block the demonstration. He reiterated that the decision does not lie with his government.
msh/wd (AFP, dpa, Portal)