Stockholm
Woman storms renewed burning of the Koran with a fire extinguisher
After several Koran burnings and the associated threats from abroad, Sweden has raised its terror alert level to the second highest level for the first time since 2016. photo
© Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency/AP/dpa
According to the police, the woman tried to extinguish the fire and was arrested for disturbing public order. The motives of the man behind the Koran burnings are unclear.
A book believed to be a copy of the Koran burned at his feet.
The police confirmed the incident. The woman tried to put out a fire with the help of a fire extinguisher, she said. She was arrested for disturbing public order.
Angry protests after desecration of the Koran
The man responsible for the action, together with a comrade-in-arms in Stockholm, has repeatedly set fire to the Koran or otherwise desecrated it in recent weeks. This has led to angry protests in Muslim-dominated countries.
With a view to the Koran burnings in Sweden and also in Denmark, the terrorist network al-Qaeda called for attacks against the countries in an alleged statement. On Thursday, the terror alert level in Sweden was raised to the second highest level for the first time since 2016.
Investigations into sedition
The 37-year-old man comes from Iraq and came to Sweden several years ago. His motives are unclear. He is being investigated for possible incitement to hatred in the course of the burning of the Koran, also with regard to the action.
The Swedish radio station SVT recently reported that recordings of his time in Iraq had been circulated on social media. They are supposed to show that he held a leadership role in a Christian militia that took part in the fights against the terrorist militia Islamic State. The man himself told SVT that the Iraqi leadership was lying about him. He was a politician, not a militia leader.
Sweden has legislation reviewed
The Swedish government is now examining to what extent the regulations for public gatherings can be changed. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and the chairmen of his junior partners, Ebba Busch from the Christian Democrats and Johan Pehrson from the Liberals, wrote in an article in the newspaper “Dagens Nyheter” that the government had passed a directive to investigate the regulatory law.
It should therefore be examined what leeway the Swedish Basic Law offers to take into account the security of the country when examining public gatherings by the police. There are no plans to change the constitution. A group with representatives of all parliamentary parties should nevertheless be included in the investigation. Specifically, this is a Swedish law (Ordningslag), which regulates, among other things, certain regulations for public meetings and events.