An incident of a man burning a copy of the Quran, the holy book of Muslims, in front of a mosque on Bürgerplatz in Stockholm, Sweden, has sparked controversy and public outrage.
The demonstration was organized by Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old refugee from Iraq, who had previously expressed his intention to tear up and burn the Quran, calling for its ban.
During the protest, a counter-protester attempted to throw stones at Momika while he was tearing up pages of the Quran and eventually burning the book. The police intervened and arrested the counter-protester.
Due to the potential risks to public safety, similar demonstrations had previously been banned. However, two weeks ago, a Swedish administrative court ruled that these bans were inadmissible, which led to the approval of this provocative action by the police.
Significantly, the protest took place on the second day of Eid al-Adha, the most important Islamic festival, which runs from June 27 to July 1.
It is worth mentioning that a similar incident occurred in January when right-wing extremist demonstrators burned a Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, causing strong reactions in the Islamic world.
