From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 1 hour ago, updated 1 hour ago
In Malmö, around ten people were arrested for disturbing public order. CAISA RASMUSSEN / AFP
Riots broke out after a rally in which Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, who has previously launched similar initiatives, burned a Koran in a district of Malmö with a large immigrant population.
Swedish police arrested more than ten people on Sunday after scenes of violence in Malmö (south) after another copy of the Koran was burned at a rally. Sunday’s rally, organized by Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika on the initiative of similar events that angered the Muslim world, was held in a city square where a large immigrant population lives. According to public television station SVT, around 200 people came to watch the scene.
“The spectators showed their emotions after the organizer burned the writings,” the police said in a statement. “The atmosphere was stormy,” police continued, saying there was “violent rioting” at 1:45 p.m. (11:45 GMT). According to police, the gathering ended after the organizer left, but a group of people remained behind.
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Around ten people were arrested on charges of disturbing public order and two others on suspicion of involvement in violent riots. According to media reports, bystanders threw stones at Salwan Momika. A video shows demonstrators trying to break through the police line before they are stopped by them. In another video, a man can be seen trying to stop the police vehicle carrying Salwan Momika to take him away from the crime scene.
Government condemnation
In late July, 37-year-old Salwan Momika and another man, Salwan Naja, trampled on a copy of the Koran in Stockholm before setting it on fire, as they had done at previous rallies that have raised diplomatic tensions between Sweden and Sweden other countries in the Middle East. The Swedish government condemned the desecration of the Koran while stressing that the Swedish constitution protects the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression.
Iraqi protesters attacked the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July, setting a fire at the diplomatic mission in the second attack. In mid-August, the Swedish security service announced that it had raised the terror alert level on a scale from 5 to 4, as strong reactions abroad to the desecration of the Koran on Swedish soil made the country a “priority target.”
At the beginning of August, Sweden also decided to strengthen border controls. Neighboring Denmark, which also saw public desecrations of the Koran, announced it was considering banning the burning of the Muslim holy book.