STOCKHOLM
\nSwedish prosecutors on Wednesday charged two men with inciting ethnic hatred over several protests involving the burning of Qur\u2019ans in 2023, which sparked widespread outrage in Muslim countries.
\nSalwan Momika, a Christian Iraqi who burned Qur\u2019ans at a slew of protests, and co-protester Salwan Najem were charged with \u201cagitation against an ethnic group\u201d on four occasions in the summer of 2023.
\n\u201cBoth men are prosecuted for having on these four occasions made statements and treated the Qur\u2019an in a manner intended to express contempt for Muslims because of their faith,\u201d senior prosecutor Anna Hankkio said in a statement.
\nAccording to the charge sheet, the duo desecrated the Qur\u2019an, including burning it, while making derogatory remarks about Muslims \u2014 in one case outside a Stockholm mosque.
\n\u201cIn my opinion, the men\u2019s statements and actions fall under the provisions on agitation against an ethnic or national group and it is important that this matter is tried in court,\u201d the prosecutor added. Relations between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries were strained by the pair\u2019s protests.
\nIraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July 2023, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.
\nIn August last year, Sweden\u2019s intelligence service Sapo raised its threat level to four on a scale of five after the Qur\u2019an burnings had made the country a \u201cprioritized target.\u201d
\nThe Swedish government condemned the desecrations while noting the country\u2019s constitutionally protected freedom of speech and assembly laws.
\nEarlier this month, prosecutors charged Swedish-Danish right-wing activist Rasmus Paludan with the same crime over a 2022 protest in the southern city of Malmo, which also included burning the Qur\u2019an.
\nIn October 2023, a Swedish court convicted a man of inciting ethnic hatred with a 2020 Qur\u2019an burning, the first time the country\u2019s court system had tried the charge for desecrating Islam\u2019s holy book.
\nProsecutors have previously said that under Swedish law, the burning of a Qur\u2019an can be seen as a critique of the book and the religion, and thus be protected under free speech.
\nHowever, depending on the context and statements made at the time, it can also be considered \u201cagitation against an ethnic group.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STOCKHOLM Swedish prosecutors on Wednesday charged two men with inciting ethnic hatred over several protests involving the burning of Qur\u2019ans in 2023, which sparked widespread outrage in Muslim countries. Salwan Momika, a Christian Iraqi who burned Qur\u2019ans at a slew of protests, and co-protester Salwan Najem were charged with \u201cagitation against an ethnic group\u201d on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-427822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n