Demonstrators in Karachi, Pakistan, set fire to a Swedish flag in protest against the Quran burning and destruction in Sweden. Image ANP / EPA
“We have recently seen several Quranic actions carried out by only a small number of people and which only serve to create division when the world actually needs unity,” Rasmussen told Danish public broadcaster. He called the Koran burnings bad for Danish interests and the safety of Danes.
The minister could not say what the bill will look like. It is not the intention to reintroduce a law against blasphemy, he said. According to Rasmussen, officials at the Justice Department are working overtime to come up with a suitable legal solution.
Sweden is also looking for a way to end the Koran burnings. The government is considering amending the law on public order to give the police more room to ban Koran actions. On Sunday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson spoke with his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen about the problem.
Fire Swedish Embassy
In recent weeks, a far-right group organized several Quran burnings in front of foreign embassies in Copenhagen. In Sweden, a man burned a Koran at a mosque in the capital. Last week he destroyed a Koran at the Iraqi embassy.
The Koran actions in Denmark and Sweden sparked anger among Muslims at home and abroad. On Thursday, protesters set fire to the Swedish embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. There was also formal protest from countries such as Iran, Algeria, Egypt and Turkey. Sweden needs the support of the latter country in order to join NATO. Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sweden is preparing for “a war against the Muslim world.”
According to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, Swedish police have received at least three new requests for public gatherings in Stockholm in the coming weeks with the intention of burning copies of the Quran. One request is for the burning of a Quran in front of the Iranian embassy on August 3. The other applications concern the burning of Korans on August 10 in the town of Norsborg in the south of Stockholm province and in the city of Stockholm itself.
Hate speech
One of the applicants in Sweden is the same man who organized the last two Koran campaigns. It concerns a 37-year-old Iraqi who has been granted asylum in Sweden. The man has since been charged with hate speech against a specific group. The Swedish Migration Service is also evaluating his asylum status.
One of the applicants also plans to burn a book of Christian hymns at a church. The aim would be to de-escalate the “Quran burnings that put all Swedish people and the Swedish government in such a difficult position in the Muslim world,” writes the Swedish news agency TT.
Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson previously expressed his concern. He fears that something bad will happen if the protests continue, he told TT. “I’m extremely concerned about where it could lead.”
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2023-07-31 06:33:45
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