On Thursday (April 14), a frenzied mob went on a rampage in the Swedish town of Linköping after Danish anti-immigration party Stram Kurs announced to burn a copy of the Quran on the following day.
Amidst chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’, the masked men attacked police vehicles and set them ablaze. According to independent researcher Hugo Kamman, a total of 4 police officers were injured during the attack. Two people have been arrested so far in connection to the case.
Riots broke out in Linköping, Sweden yesterday following a scheduled quran burning by a Danish far-right politician. Police cars were looted & burned, 4 police were injured & police even withdrew from the area. Riots have spread to Norrköping & Rinkeby, Stockholm as well pic.twitter.com/2cco5MKwxS
— Hugo Kaaman (@HKaaman) April 15, 2022
The cops eventually withdrew from the area, thereby encouraging rioters to continue the orgy of violence in other Swedish cities of Norrköping, Rinkeby, Stockholm and Orebro. “The mood has been aggressive and there have been attacks against police at the scene,” remarked police spokesperson Asa Willsund.
Violence in Orebro
On Friday (April 15), riots broke out in the Swedish city of Örebro during which a violent mob attacked the police and engaged in arson attacks. As per a report published by Reuters, the rioters pelted stones, broke through police cordons and set 4 vehicles on fire.
#BREAKING #SWEDEN #SUÈDE
— loveworld (@LoveWorld_Peopl) April 15, 2022
🔴SWEDEN: VIOLENT PROTESTS IN OREBRO, CENTRAL SWEDEN!
Counter-protesters demonstrating against a far-right group’s intention to burn a Koran in #Orebro clashed with police on Friday, leaving 4 police officers injured.#BreakingNews #Protests #Protesta pic.twitter.com/76IiuC7ZzU
Reuters reported that at least 4 cops and a private individual were injured during the attack. According to the police, the officers were suspected to have suffered from arm fractures. According to independent researcher Hugo Kamman, the rioters also stole a police vehicle and were roaming around the city in that car.
The fact that this is allowed to happen is a severe indictment of the Swedish police leadership’s failure to assert the rule of law pic.twitter.com/M3uNiqW9Jx
— Hugo Kaaman (@HKaaman) April 15, 2022
“The fact that this is allowed to happen is a severe indictment of the Swedish police leadership’s failure to assert the rule of law,” he stated in a tweet. Violence was also reported in the Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby and Navesta in Norrköping over the scheduled Quran burning event.
While responding to the violence, Swedish prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said, “I strongly condemn the violence that is now being directed at the police and the general public in Örebro. Yesterday and during the night we saw similar scenes in Linköping and in Norrköping. Several police officers have been injured while working in their service to defend democratic rights “
The Quran burning event by Stram Kurs
The chief of the Danish anti-immigration party, Rasmus Paludan, had announced to burn a copy of the Quran in the Muslim-dominated neighbourhood of Linkoping. While a large mob of 200 odd Muslims had gathered to protest against the act of ‘blasphemy’, Stram Kurs chief went ahead and set the book ablaze.
Thereafter, the frenzied mob began pelting stones at the police, closed the road for vehicular movement and carried out arson attacks. Mikail Yuksel, the founder of the Party of Different Colors in Sweden, has accused Paludan of provoking Muslims by indulging in blasphemous acts outside mosques and in Muslim-majority areas.
He had claimed, “In Sweden, which defends human rights, freedom of religion and conscience with the highest pitch, the Qur’an is burned in the neighbourhoods of Muslims under the protection of the police.”
Far-right Danish politician Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Holy Quran in a neighbourhood in Sweden’s Linkoping, which is densely populated by Muslims, on April 14.
— TRT World (@trtworld) April 15, 2022
While he was burning the Quran under police protection, the crowd shouted at Paludan pic.twitter.com/4G1V1cSq79
It must be mentioned that the party was given permission to hold the Quran burning event by the police, which later disbanded it due to the deteriorating law and order situation.
While reacting to the violence, National Police Chief Anders Thornberg said, “We live in a democratic society and one of the most important tasks of the police is to ensure that people can use their constitutionally protected rights to demonstrate and express their opinions…The police do not get to choose who has this right, but must always intervene in case of violation.”
Ramsus Paludan and 2020 Sweden riots
In August 2020, riots broke out in the city of Malmo in Sweden after a member of the ‘Stram Kurs’ group burnt a copy of the Quran. The burning of the Quran was a part of an anti-Islam protest which took place in the city, following the arrest of Rasmus Paludan.
Paludan is the leader of a Danish anti-immigration political party ‘Hard-Line’ and was supposed to hold a meeting in the city. Authorities had informed that Paludanone was banned from Sweden for two years due to concerns about him breaking Swedish law. As such, he was stopped at the border and was denied entry into Malmo.
In response, Paludan had put up a post on Facebook that read, “Sent back and banned from Sweden for two years. However, rapists and murderers are always welcome!” He was supposed to take part in an anti-Muslim rally and had earlier urged his supporters to burn the Quran.
In a viral video, a member of the ‘Stram Kurs’ group was seen setting spraying gasoline over a copy of the Quran and then setting the book on fire during the day. The man was seen pointing toward the burnt Quran and condemning Islam in Swedish.
The incident triggered radical Islamists, who then hit the streets and unleashed violence. While the rioters first protested against the actions of the group, they soon resorted to burning tyres and pelting rocks at the police. In 2019, Paludan had set a Quran on fire after wrapping the book with a piece of bacon.
