COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – The Swedish government suspects that foreign actors instigated violent riots in several Swedish cities last week, according to the country’s justice minister.
Crowds threw stones and burned cars and bins after a Danish far-right provocateur announced plans to hold meetings in Sweden. Rasmus Paludan has burned copies of the Koran at events in Denmark, where he also criticizes Islam, and the news that he plans to do the same in Sweden has sparked anger.
Paludan, who has dual Danish-Swedish citizenship, “for some reason seems to hate Sweden and try to harm Sweden. I don’t understand why,” said Attorney General Morgan Johansson.
In an interview with Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet published on Wednesday, Johansson referred to online claims that surfaced earlier this year that Swedish social services had allegedly kidnapped Muslim children.
“There are many signs that they are also running here, campaigning and supporting in various ways,” the minister said.
The Foreign Ministry in Stockholm published a Twitter thread in February dealing with a “disinformation campaign”. A Swedish agency set up to counter misinformation said the kidnapping allegations could be traced back to an Arabic-language website whose creator expressed his support for the Islamic State group.
“We see Sweden’s image being shaped by some of these actors in the Middle East,” Aftonbladet quoted Johansson as saying. “It’s also being addressed by some governments in Iraq and Iran.”
After news of Paludan’s planned stunt reached Iran and the United Arab Emirates, the governments in Tehran and Dubai called Swedish diplomats to protest.
A total of 26 police officers and 14 others – protesters or others – were injured in the riots and 20 police vehicles were destroyed or damaged, officials said.
The latest violence erupted in Malmo, Sweden’s third-biggest city, on Sunday night when an angry mob of mostly young people set fire to tyres, debris and dustbins in a neighborhood known for high crime.
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Riots and violent clashes were reported from several other Swedish cities. Three people were injured in Norrköping on Sunday when they were hit by ricochets as police fired warning shots.
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson will visit Norrköping and Linköping, another city where riots broke out, on Wednesday.
National Police officials said Monday they suspect some of the rioters are linked to criminal gangs that are deliberately targeting the police.