Swedish prosecutors are charging two men with agitation against an ethnic or national group after they set copies of the Quran on fire in four separate locations, including outside a mosque. Salwan Momika and Salwan Najem both face charges for burning copies of the Islamic holy book, which led to Sweden heightening its terrorism alert system last year.
In the multicultural city of Malmo, Momika, a Christian Iraqi refugee, burned a Quran last year, sparking riots in the notorious no-go suburb of Rosengard as Muslims set dozens of cars on fire and threw missiles at police.
Sweden previously insisted that burning the Quran is not illegal, refusing to bring charges against anti-Islam activists like Momika or Rasmus Paludan. The country briefly considered outlawing Quran burning last year but ultimately ruled out any significant changes to the current laws on freedom of expression. A permit for a Quran-burning protest was granted as recently as May 2024.
The Quran protests strained Sweden’s relationship with Turkey amid its bid to join NATO, with Turkey demanding the European Union (EU) country make it illegal to burn the book.
Neighboring Denmark also caved to Turkey, passing de facto blasphemy laws in August 2023 banning burning the Quran, calling such protests uncivilized.
