Sweden braced for new Quran-burning protest

Sweden is braced for another demonstration of burning the Quran after a right-wing activist was granted a permit for a protest at a mosque in Stockholm.

On June 28, local police said security risks did not justify blocking the protest – after authorities were overruled by a court when they tried to ban previous rallies, according to The National.

The burning of a Quran outside Türkiye's Stockholm embassy in January led to condemnation, protests and put the brakes on Sweden's NATO membership bid.

Wednesday's protest is planned by a different activist, Salwan Momika, who describes himself as an atheist from Iraq and a member of the far-right Sweden Democrats.

In a video posted on social media, he said he would burn a Quran outside the mosque on Wednesday.

He wrote in another recent post that Sweden's “freedom and laws are in danger” and that police “are trying to impose the Quran on you”.

Police said in a written decision that security risks “were not of a nature that could justify, under current laws, a decision to reject the request” for a protest.

Gatherings outside the Turkish and Iraqi embassies were banned in February when it appeared the Quran would be burned.

Security police had warned that the protests might lead to attacks against Sweden.

However, a court ruled in April that police concerns did not override the right to free expression and assembly.

It said the security threat was not “sufficiently concrete” to justify a ban on the gatherings in question.

The Quran-burning episode in January put an obstacle in the path of Sweden's NATO membership bid.

Momika said he was one of those who had a protest blocked in February.

“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,” Momika wrote in an application seen by AFP.

Reports on Wednesday said police had called in reinforcements from across the country to maintain order in Stockholm.

The Quran-burning in January by far-right politician Rasmus Paludan was condemned by countries including the UAE.

Türkiye, which has held up Sweden's NATO bid for more than a year over various grievances, said it could not go forward if Quran-burning was condoned.

An aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the time that Sweden “must wake up to the reality of terror groups intent on preventing Sweden’s NATO membership by poisoning their relationship with us”.

Finland, which applied simultaneously with Sweden, joined NATO in April after Türkiye lifted its veto.