Riot erupts in Sweden over Quran burning

STOCKHOLM – A riot broke out when the leader of the far-right Danish party Stram Kurs (Hard Line) burned another copy of the Muslim holy book Quran.

Rasmus Paluda, who went to the Uppsala Mosque under the protection of the police, continued his provocation of burning the copies of the Quran.

Around 10 people rushed toward Paludan to prevent him from burning the copy of the holy book, while he left by getting into his car.

A vehicle was damaged during the riot, Swedish police said.

Paludan burned another copy of the Quran in front of the Stockholm Mosque earlier on Sunday.

He has been carrying out the provocation in various cities of Denmark since 2017.

Earlier this month, the Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the incident and described it as a provocation against Islam.

“In the holy month of Ramadan, we once again condemn in the strongest possible terms the attacks and provocations against Islam, Muslims, the Quran, and places of worship in different parts of the world,” said a statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

“The vile attacks on our holy book, the Quran, in Sweden have shown that the lessons of the past have not been learned, that there is still hesitancy to prevent Islamophobic and racist provocative acts, and that hate crimes are openly and overtly tolerated under the guise of freedom of expression,” it added.