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Sweden arrests five over suspected terror plot linked to Quran burning

Five people are being held on suspicion of planning a "terrorist act" following the burning of the Quran in Stockholm in January.

Published: 4 April 2023 11:12 CEST

Sweden arrests five over suspected terror plot linked to Quran burning

Far-right activist Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm in January. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

“The current case is one of several that the Swedish Security Service has been working on… in connection with the high-profile Koran burning,” said Susanna Trehörning, deputy head of the security service’s counterterrorism unit, adding that suspects were linked to international “Islamic extremism”.

The five men were seized in raids in Eskilstuna, Linköping and Strängnäs, in central Sweden.

They are being held on so-called “reasonable suspicion”, which is the lower degree of suspicion in Swedish law.

The security service said they did not believe an attack had been imminent. In a statement they added they “often have to intervene early to avert a threat. We cannot wait for a crime to be committed before we act”.

The prosecutor has to decide by April 7th whether or not to request that the court remand the men in custody.

Far-right activist Rasmus Paludan, pictured above, in January burned a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish embassy, sparking fury in Turkey and several Muslim countries. The security police said the incident made Sweden a higher priority target for terror attacks.

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Sweden Democrat justice committee chair steps down over hate crime suspicion

Jomshof told news site Kvartal’s podcast that he had been called to questioning on Tuesday next week, where he’s been told he is to be formally informed he is suspected of agitation against an ethnic or national group (hets mot folkggrupp), a hate crime.

Prosecutor Joakim Zander confirmed the news, but declined to comment further.

“I can confirm what Jomshof said. He is to be heard as suspected on reasonable grounds of agitation against an ethnic or national group,” he told the TT newswire.

“Suspected on reasonable grounds” (skäligen misstänkt) is Sweden’s lower degree of suspicion, compared to the stronger “probable cause” (på sannolika skäl misstänkt).

The investigation relates to posts by other accounts which Jomshof republished on the X platform on May 28th.

One depicts a Muslim refugee family who is welcomed in a house which symbolises Europe, only to set the house on fire and exclaim “Islam first”. The other shows a Pakistani refugee who shouts for help and is rescued by a boat which symbolises England. He then attacks the family who helped him with a bat labelled “rape jihad”, according to TT.

Jomshof has stepped down from his position as chair of the justice committee while he’s under investigation.

“I don’t want this to be about my chairmanship of the committee, I don’t want the parties we collaborate with to get these questions again about whether or not they have confidence in me, but I want this to be about the issue at hand,” he said.

“The issue is Islamism, if you may criticise it or not, and that’s about free speech.”

It’s not the first time Jomshof has come under fire for his comments on Islam.

Last year, he called the Prophet Mohammed a “warlord, mass murderer, slave trader and bandit” in another post on X, sparking calls from the opposition for his resignation.

The Social Democrats on Friday urged Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, whose Moderate-led government relies on the Sweden Democrats’ support, not to let Jomshof return to the post as chair of the justice committee.

“The prime minister is to be the prime minister for the people as a whole,” said Ardalan Shekarabi, the Social Democrat deputy chairman of the justice committee, adding that it was “sad” that Jomshof had ever been elected chairman in the first place.

“When his party supports a person with clear extremist opinions, on this post, there’s no doubt that the cohesion of our society is damaged and that the government parties don’t stand up against hate and agitation,” TT quoted Shekarabi as saying.

Liberal party secretary Jakob Olofsgård, whose party is a member of the government but is seen as the coalition party that’s the furthest from the Sweden Democrats, wrote in a comment to TT: “I can say that I think it is reasonable that Richard Jomshof chooses to quit as chairman of the justice committee pending this process.”

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