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QURAN BURNINGS

Iraqis protest again after Danish book burning incident

Iraqi security forces on Saturday dispersed roughly 1,000 supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr who tried to march to Baghdad's Green Zone housing foreign embassies, believing a Quran had been desecrated in Denmark.

Published: 22 July 2023 12:07 CEST
Iraqi protest
Followers of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr protest on Tahrir Square near Baghdad's Green Zone a day after an alleged burning of the Quran in Copenhagen, early on July 22nd, 2023. Photo by: Murtaja LATEEF / AFP

The protesters were reacting to reports of an apparent desecration of the Muslim holy book.

On its Facebook page, the extreme right group Danske Patrioter posted on Friday video of a man burning what seemed to be a Quran and trampling an Iraqi flag.

Copenhagen Police deputy chief, Trine Fisker, told AFP that “not more than a handful” of protesters had gathered Friday across from the Iraqi embassy.

“I can also confirm there was a book burnt. We do not know which book it was,” she said. “It was quite peaceful.”

In central Baghdad, the protesters gathered in the pre-dawn darkness after midnight at Tahrir Square.

“Yes, yes to the Quran!” shouted the protesters, mostly young men.

Some carried portraits of Sadr, who has a following of millions among the country’s majority Shiite population and wields great influence over national politics.

Security forces cut two bridges leading to the high-security Green Zone where governmental institutions and foreign embassies are located.

The demonstrators tried to force their way through before officers pushed them back and the protesters eventually dispersed several hours later, after scuffles erupted, an interior ministry official told AFP, speaking anonymously because he was not allowed to brief the media.

Protesters were trying to reach the embassy of Denmark, the official said.

Early Saturday Iraq’s foreign ministry had condemned “the desecration of the holy Quran and the Iraqi flag in front of the embassy of Iraq in Denmark.”

The ministry’s statement said that “these actions provoke reactions and put all the parties in delicate situations.”

A separate statement said “we cannot allow to happen again” what occurred at the Swedish embassy.

It reaffirmed Baghdad’s “full commitment” to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and said it guarantees “the protection and security provided to diplomatic teams”.

Hundreds of Sadr supporters were behind the storming and burning of Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad early Thursday, over a planned burning of the Muslim holy book in Sweden, weeks after the same protester there lit pages of the Quran.

The actions of Sweden-based Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika triggered condemnation across the Muslim world.

Iraq condemned the attack on Sweden’s embassy but expelled Stockholm’s ambassador.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom called Momika’s protest “a clear provocation” that “in no way reflects the Swedish government’s opinions”, while also stressing a “constitutional right to freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and freedom to demonstrate”.

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QURAN BURNINGS

Is Sweden going to follow Denmark in banning Quran-burnings?

At the beginning of December, Denmark passed legislation criminalising the "inappropriate treatment" of religious texts, effectively banning Quran burnings. How likely is it that Sweden will do the same?

Published: 8 December 2023 15:54 CET
Is Sweden going to follow Denmark in banning Quran-burnings?

Quran-burning “demonstrations” have taken place in both Sweden and Denmark over the last year, with Islam’s holy book desecrated multiple times outside Sweden’s parliament, outside the coutnry’s mosques and in areas with large Muslim populations.

This sparked anger in Muslim countries over the summer and possibly even delayed Sweden’s Nato application from being approved.

However, Sweden’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, still does not see any reason to follow the same route as Denmark, arguing that protecting free speech is more important.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate, or that there is any kind of broad support for going the Danish route,” Strömmer told Sweden’s TT newswire after the Danish parliament passed its law. 

In Sweden, the issue is being investigated by a parliamentary group led by the head of the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), Mattias Larsson.

The group will look into whether applications for demonstrations with planned Quran-burnings could be rejected on the grounds that they present a threat to national security and the results of the investigation will be presented next summer.

The government’s view is that it may be necessary to change the Public Order Act, but that a flat-out ban is unnecessary.

Strömmer said that Denmark’s decision to pass new legislation would not change the government’s approach, 

“No, it doesn’t. It’s been well known for some time now that they are considering introducing this kind of ban. Our standpoint is based on strong protection of free speech,” he said. 

He also highlighted the fact that Sweden already had laws against hate speech, and that some Quran-burning protests are currently being prosecuted under these laws.

The opposition Social Democrats have accused the government of passivity, with the party’s justice spokesperson Ardalan Shekarabi arguing that Sweden could see knoc.

“It puts us in a more vulnerable position considering that we are already in a very serious situation, with the security police mentioning yesterday that the security situation has worsened,” he said.

His party agrees that the government’s investigation into changing the law is necessary, but argues that the government should seek to tighten laws around hate crime or disorderly conduct, rather than rely only on changing the public order act.

“We believe that change to legislation is necessary,” Shekarabi said. “The government is investigating a completely different issue which also lacks parliamentary support.

The Centre Party, also part of the opposition, is against any changes to Swedish law to criminalise Quran-burnings.

“Freedom of speech often comes with a price,” the party’s justice spokesperson Ulrika Liljeberg said. “If you have freedoms which are so narrow that no one is offended when you exercise your freedoms, then they’re not really worth having.”

The Sweden Democrats, who support the government but are not part of it, are also critical of Denmark’s decision on freedom of speech grounds.

“In many respects Denmark is a pioneering country, but they’ve really lost their way here,” Jessica Stegrud, member of the Sweden Democrat party leadership, told TT in a written comment.

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