In recent light of events, a handful of anti-Islam activists in Sweden have been found to be involved in a violent string of acts including burning of the Quran in pubic places. However, this act has been subjected to limited political restrictions despite drawing criticism from a large part of the Muslim community from all over the world. An Iraqi stomped on and then kicked the Muslim holy book, Quran, in a two-man rally outside the Iraq Embassy in Stockholm on Thursday, July 20. The Swedish Embassy was stormed in Baghdad in the early hours of Thursday. The same Iraqi man in Sweden was seen burning the holy book outside a Stockholm mosque last month, which was said to be approved by the police.
In early 2023, a far-right activist had performed a similar act outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. Thus, portraying how the current laws and politics in Sweden make such events difficult to be controlled.
The Swedish courts have ruled in favor of the burnings stating that the police cannot stop such acts. However, These recent incidents will be taken up in court for inciting hatred but the whole act is being protected by the Swedish constitution’s freedom of speech laws. There is no law that specifically prohibits the burning of Quran or any other religious texts. With increasing secularism in Sweden, the blasphemy law was taken off the constitution in 1970. Before that blasphemy was a crime punishable by death in Sweden.
To change the constitution now would be a step-by-step lengthy process that includes a parliament voting followed by a general election followed by a second round of voting in the Parliament. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s government said last week that it would analyze whether there was a reason to change the Public Order Act in order for the police to stop the Quran burnings.
This issue has apparently jeopardized Sweden’s accession to NATO. The Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan previously warned to deny military alliance with Sweden if the Quran burnings continued to take place there. The 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation introduced a resolution that was passed on July 12 in the United Nations Human Rights Council which calls the states to review their laws that prevent prosecution of religious hatred.
Image source: ABC News
Edited by: Nandini Roy
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