Sweden grants permit for yet another Quran desecration protest

LONDON

The Swedish authorities have granted permission to yet another protest involving the burning of the Quran, the Muslim holy book.

Police in southern Sweden’s Malmo issued the permit for the controversial protest to take place at the city’s Gustavs Adolfs Torg public square Friday, national broadcaster SVT Nyheter said Thursday.

The authorities, meanwhile, were yet to decide on two more applications for similar protests this week, one in central Malmo on Saturday and another in Rosengard on Sunday, according to the broadcaster.

Quran-burning protests in Sweden have strained Stockholm’s diplomatic relations with several countries.

The Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), for instance, called on members to take political and economic measures against Sweden, Denmark, and other countries that allowed the burning and desecration of the Muslim holy book.

Such demonstrations in Sweden and Denmark, under the pretext of free speech, have also sparked angry protests and attacks on diplomatic missions in Muslim-majority countries.

In response, Denmark adopted a law last December that makes it illegal to burn copies of the Quran in public places.

Sweden is also considering legal options that would allow police to bar similar protests over national security concerns.

The OIC has warned that it is necessary to stop acts that can be characterized as “aggression that spreads hatred and contempt for religions and threatens global peace, security, and harmony.”

Meanwhile, Friday’s controversial protest comes just as Malmo prepares to host the Eurovision Song Contest week.

“Right now, we are in a situation where we need, as a precautionary measure, to ensure that we have the skills and tools close at hand in the event of a serious incident,” head of Malmo Police Petra Stenkula said last month at a press conference on the security situation during Eurovision.

Security has also been heightened amid Israel’s participation in the contest, despite calls to ban the country over its war on Gaza which has killed over 34,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, with tens of thousands of others wounded.

Swedish authorities have requested extra measures, including heavily armed police and reinforcements from two other Nordic countries, Denmark and Norway.

Over 20,000 people from various European countries will reportedly descend on Malmo to protest Israel’s participation in the song contest that begins on May 7.

Malmo, Sweden’s third-largest city, has a diverse population of over 360,000 people of 186 different nationalities, including a large Muslim community.

In 2022, the city saw large demonstrations and riots after a Quran-burning protest by Swedish-Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan.