A visit by a far-right politician to Sweden has turned into riots in which at least eight people have been injured. Counter-protesters clashed with police.
It has been restless in Sweden for several days in the places where the Swedish-Danish Rasmus Paludan comes to speak. The leader of the extreme right-wing party Stram Kurs (Harde Lijn) is touring the country, regularly provoking by burning Korans.
In Örebro, 200 kilometers west of Stockholm, the disturbances started before Paludan had arrived. At least four police vans were set on fire and four people were seriously injured. Among the victims is a civilian who was hit in the head with a stone.
The police fired warning shots and deployed the riot police to disperse the demonstrators.
disturbances
Earlier in the day, a meeting in a suburb of Stockholm had already turned into violence. During a visit by Paludan to Linköping on Thursday, three officers were injured in disturbances. In Jönköping, speaking was made impossible by church bells being rung.
Paludan founded Stram Kurs in 2017 to fight for a strict anti-Islam policy. Although known for provocative actions, the party failed to pass the 2 percent electoral threshold in the 2019 parliamentary elections.
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