Prosecutors mentioned the lads’s “remedy of the Quran was meant to precise contempt for the Muslim religion”.
Two males in Sweden are to face trial after repeatedly burning a Quran throughout protests final yr, sparking widespread anger within the Muslim nation.
Swedish prosecutors mentioned on Wednesday that Salvan Momika and Salvan Najm had every dedicated 4 “incitements to crimes in opposition to a nationwide or ethnic group”.
The pair had been accused of desecrating the Quran, together with burning it, whereas making derogatory remarks about Muslims, certainly one of which occurred outdoors a mosque within the capital Stockholm.
Occasions in the summertime of 2023 outraged Muslim leaders, prompted Sweden to tighten safety and strained its relations with Center Jap international locations.
“The pair are being prosecuted for making statements on these 4 events and treating the Quran in a fashion that expressed contempt for the Muslim religion,” senior prosecutor Anna Hanchio mentioned in an announcement.
“I imagine that the phrases and actions of those people fall throughout the phrases of incitement in opposition to a racial or ethnic group and it’s important that the matter is tried in court docket,” she added.
Henchio mentioned the proof in opposition to the lads was principally video.
Najim mentioned he was not at fault, his lawyer Mark Safaryan informed Reuters.
“The license related to the demonstration is consistent with my consumer’s intentions. His rights are protected by the Swedish structure,” Safarian mentioned.
Momika, a Christian refugee from Iraq, mentioned he wished to protest in opposition to the Islamic institution and its ban on its holy books.
Sweden’s immigration company mentioned it wished to deport Momika on account of false data in his software for residency, however the order wouldn’t be carried out as a result of he confronted the danger of torture in Iraq.
The burnings sparked huge protests in lots of international locations.
In Iraq, protesters stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad twice in July 2023, inflicting a hearth inside.
On account of the burning of the Quran, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a decision on non secular hatred and bigotry, with solely the USA and the European Union abstaining from the vote as a result of it conflicted with their stance on free speech.
Critics say burning the Quran is a type of free speech and ought to be protected by legislation.
This month, prosecutors additionally introduced the identical prices in opposition to Rasmus Paludan, a Swedish-Danish right-wing activist over a 2022 Koran-burning protest within the southern Swedish metropolis of Malmö.
In neighboring Denmark, which additionally noticed a collection of Quran burnings final yr, the nation tightened laws to ban the follow.
