There is limited political will in Sweden to ban Holy Quran desecrations that have upset large parts of the Muslim world, including Pakistan, and it would be complicated to do even if there were backing for such a move, experts and politicians said on Friday.
The Swedish Embassy in Baghdad was stormed and set alight in the early hours of Thursday by supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in anticipation of a desecration of the Muslim holy book outside the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm, the latest of several such acts in Sweden in the past few years.
Iraq later withdrew its charge d’affaires in Stockholm and Sweden said it had temporarily moved its seconded embassy staff and operations from Baghdad to Sweden for safety reasons.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan had also condemned the “despicable act” after the first sacrilegious act was carried out earlier this month by the 37-year-old Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, who on Thursday again stomped and kicked the Holy Quran.
A series of rallies were also organised in Rawalpindi and Islamabad by political and religious parties, traders, journalists and members of civil society on July 7 to condemn the desecration.
However, Sweden’s laws, current politics and social traditions mean such incidents are unlikely to be halted any time soon.
Swedish courts have ruled that police cannot stop the desecration of holy scriptures. While the two latest Holy Quran desecrations could be tested in court for inciting hate, it is widely believed the act is protected by the constitution’s far-reaching freedom of speech laws.
To change the constitution is a lengthy process that requires a vote in parliament, then a general election, and then another vote in parliament.
Even so, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s government said last week it would examine if there was reason to change the Public Order Act to make it possible for police to stop Holy Quran desecrations, amid concerns over national security.
The issue of Holy Quran desecrations has potentially jeopardised Sweden’s accession to Nato. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has previously warned that Sweden would not be accepted into the military alliance if Holy Quran desecrations took place there.
Turkey, alongside Hungary, has so far held up Sweden’s bid — launched in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — although Erdogan said earlier this month that he would send the Nordic country’s Nato application to parliament.
The 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation introduced a resolution that passed in the United Nations Human Rights Council on July 12 calling for states to review their laws that prevent prosecution of “religious hatred”.
Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch of the Christian Democrats said earlier this month the Sweden alone determined its legislation and would not be influenced by other countries’ faiths or laws.
“Sweden does not bend its back to Islamism. Burning scriptures is reprehensible but not illegal,” she tweeted on July 7 after a Holy Quran desecration outside a Stockholm mosque.
Any potential law change that would make such acts illegal is also highly unlikely to pass because the minority government is dependent on the support of the Sweden Democrats, the second biggest party in parliament after last year’s elections, which is anti-immigrant and critical of Islam.
“The Sweden Democrats have not considered introducing any such law in Sweden, nor do we intend to support any such legislation if put forward in parliament,” Sweden Democrat Party Secretary Richard Jomshof told Reuters in an emailed statement.
