A 32-year-old Muslim who claimed he wanted to burn the Torah and Bible on Saturday in Stockholm backed away from it, explaining that he wanted to expose those who burn holy books like the Koran in the Scandinavian country.
On Friday, Swedish police allowed the man to demonstrate in front of the Israeli embassy, a decision condemned by the Jewish state and various religious organizations.
Ahmed A. said: The organizer told reporters his intention was to criticize people who have burned Qurans in Sweden in recent months, which is not prohibited by Swedish law.
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The man residing in Sweden is of Syrian origin and is 32 years old.
He explained that what he intended to do was “a response to the people who burn the Qur’an. I want to show that freedom of expression has limits that must be taken into account.”
“I want to show that we have to respect each other, we live in the same society,” he added. If I burn the Torah and another person burns the Bible and another the Qur’an, there will be war here… What I wanted to show is that doing that is not a good thing.”
The protesters dispersed peacefully, about fifty meters from the Israeli embassy, on a luxurious avenue in central Stockholm.
The first copy of the Quran was burned in January by the right-wing Swedish-Danish extremist Rasmus Paludan to denounce Sweden’s request to join NATO and negotiate with Turkey for this purpose.
On June 28, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden burned a few pages of the Koran in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque on Eid al-Adha.
Sloane Momica holds a Quran as he protests outside a mosque in Stockholm on June 28, 2023, during Eid al-Adha. (Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
The two incidents sparked a chain of condemnations in the Islamic world.
Even if the Swedish police stated that the demonstration was not officially authorized to burn a Bible, there is no law in Sweden that prohibits the burning of the Koran, Torah or Bible.
The Swedish government in January and June denounced “insulting” and “anti-Islamic” behaviour, but it does not intend to change Swedish law, which is more liberal than any other country.
On the other hand, the police can refuse the demonstration if it harms the security of the country or if it leads to acts or words that incite racial hatred.
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2023-07-16 09:11:54
