The Swedish Police have given permission to protesters who plan to burn a Quran outside Stockholm’s main mosque on Wednesday, during the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival celebration.
According to Alarabiya News, the Swedish security operatives made this known in a written statement claiming that the permission was given because “the security risks associated with the burning were not of a nature that could justify, under current laws, a decision to reject the request.”
This police’s permission was given two weeks after a Swedish appeal court nullified the police’s decision to deny permits for two demonstrations in Stockholm which were to include the burning of the Muslim holy book, the Quran.
Police claimed security concerns at the time, following the January burning of the Muslim holy book outside Turkey’s embassy, which sparked weeks of protests, and calls for a boycott of Swedish goods, and further hampered Sweden’s NATO membership quest.
Turkey, which has rejected the request due to Stockholm’s reluctance to fight down on Kurdish groups it considers “terrorists,” took special offence that police had authorised the January protest.
Police then prohibited two more requests for protests involving Quran burnings outside the Turkish and Iraqi embassies in Stockholm in February, one by a single individual and one by an organisation.
The appeal court concluded in mid-June that the police were wrong to ban those, stating that “the order and security problems” mentioned by the police did not have “a sufficiently clear connection to the planned event or its immediate vicinity.”
The Wednesday rally was requested by the same private individual who had his earlier request denied.
“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,” Salwan Momika, 37, wrote in the application, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
To preserve order, police said they had called in troops from throughout the country on Wednesday.
Several police cars were already parked near the mosque, according to an AFP correspondent.
Swedish lawmakers have condemned Quran burnings while vehemently defending the right to free expression.
