Quran desecration: Sweden faces diplomatic backlash

Muslim-majority countries and organizations have sharply criticized Sweden for not stopping the protests that saw an Iraqi refugee burn a copy of the Quran, Islam's holy book, last month, and stomp on it on Thursday. 

The Saudi Arabian government condemned the Stockholm Quran protests and summoned Sweden's top diplomat in the kingdom over the incident.

Riyadh issued a "protest note that includes the kingdom's request to the Swedish authorities to take all immediate and necessary measures to stop these disgraceful acts," Saudi Foreign Ministry said late on Thursday.

Separately, Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran also summoned Sweden's ambassador to Tehran. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said it "holds the Swedish government fully responsible for the consequences of inciting the feelings of Muslims around the world."

Criticism from around the Muslim world 

 Also on Thursday, Iraq expelled the Swedish envoy and the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad was stormed by angry protesters.

On Friday, protesters in several other Muslim-majority countries continued to express outrage over the incident. 

Thousands gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City, including some of them who took part in the attack on the Swedish Embassy, to protest against Quran burning.

They brandished Qurans, burned the Swedish flag, and the LGBTQ rainbow flag. 

In Lebanon, thousands of followers of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement conducted staged sit-in protests.

In Iran, thousands marched in Tehran and other cities across the country, according to footage that was aired on state television.

Sweden on Friday announced that it was temporarily moving its Iraq embassy to Stockholm.

Turkey issues arrest warrant for Quran burning

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which includes dozens of Muslim-majority countries across the world, said the latest  "provocative attack" in Stockholm could not be justified due to the freedom of expression.

Earlier this year, far-right Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan also sparked international outrage by publicly setting fire to a copy of the Quran in Stockholm.

On Friday, Turkey issued an arrest warrant for Paludan for "publicly insulting religious values," Swedish broadcaster SVT reported.

Arrest warrants were also issued for nine other individuals for their involvement in the Quran burning outside of the Turkish embassy in the Swedish capital.

"The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has urged comprehensive investigations to identify the suspects and gather clear identity information and evidence of their criminal actions," Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said.

Why are protesters allowed to burn holy books In Sweden?

Acts of perceived blasphemy are punishable by death in both Saudi Arabia and Iran, with scores of other nations also enforcing blasphemy laws.  

While Sweden also had similar laws in the past, including a death sentence for blasphemy in the 19th century, blasphemy is no longer considered an offense in the Scandinavian country. In turn, freedom of speech is protected by the Swedish constitution.

Citing these legal principles, the Swedish government said it is not able to stop Quran-linked demonstrations. Authorities also permitted the protest of a man who said he intended to burn copies of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Bible, although he said he never intended to actually burn the holy books.

The decision on whether to allow protests is left to the police, who can only stop an event if there is a valid reason, such as a threat to public safety. Their decisions can also be overturned by courts.

At the same time, critics of the Quran protests point to Sweden's hate speech laws, which forbid incitement against people over their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender.

They claim that recent demonstrations amount to incitement against Muslims.  Others insist that the events are protesting Islam itself rather than Muslims as a group and that the right to free speech must also protect acts that certain groups find offensive.

Swedish police have already filed preliminary hate speech charges against the man who burned a copy of the Quran in June and stomped on it this week. The prosecutors have yet to decide whether to formally indict him.

The Swedish government has condemned Quran burning as "Islamophobic."

dj/sms (AP, Reuters, AFP)