Stockholm, Sweden – A copy of the Quran has been desecrated in Sweden’s capital as two men kicked the Muslim holy book and burned several of its pages in front of the Royal Palace amid a heavy police presence.
Monday’s incident marked the second time in a matter of weeks that Salwan Momika, 37, and Salwan Najem, 48, have burned the Quran, an act permitted under Sweden’s freedom of speech laws, at Mynttorget, a central square surrounded by government buildings and the palace.
Momika and Najem engaged in a prolonged, theatrical and now familiar desecration of the Quran while using a megaphone to goad counterprotesters.
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On Monday, several people in the crowd brought their own megaphones, and the two men were largely drowned out by counterprotesters.
Present among the crowd was a group wearing firefighter-themed outfits whose members chanted “extinguish the hate” while handing out plastic firefighter hats and encouraging onlookers to speak into their megaphones.
This year has seen several Quran burnings in Sweden and Denmark, sparking outrage in Muslim nations that have called for the cessation of such incidents by the governments of both countries.
