The desecration of the Muslim holy book has once again reportedly taken place in Sweden
A woman professing to be a Christian activist has staged a Quran-burning in the Swedish capital, the Turkish news outlet A Haber reported on X (former Twitter) on Sunday.
According to the report, the incident took place on April 26 in Stockholm. In a video posted online by the outlet, a person identified as 48-year-old Jade Sandberg is seen torching the Muslim holy book while waving a Christian cross over it and screaming “Islam out of Sweden!” The protest is believed to have been sanctioned by the local authorities, as police officers on site do not appear to have attempted to stop it.
Sandberg also posted footage and photos from the demonstration on her own X account, where she claims to be a “priest, exorcist and demonologist,” as well as an “activist and crusader against the devil’s religion of Islam.” This week’s Quran-torching is at least her second this year.
There have been a slew of such protests across Sweden since 2023, when Danish right-wing politician Rasmus Paludan, who also holds Swedish citizenship, burned the Islamic text in front of the Turkish embassy in January 2023.
İSVEÇ’TE BİR ALÇAK EYLEM DAHAİsveç’in başkenti Stockholm’de Jade Sandberg isimli İslam karşıtı bir kadın, polis korumasında Kur’an-ı Kerim yaktı. pic.twitter.com/XoIAKwYhT5
— A Haber (@ahaber) April 28, 2024
Swedish authorities have condemned such acts, but still largely allowed them to go ahead, citing the country’s laws guaranteeing the right to freedom of expression. Under the country’s Public Order Act, a person must apply for a permit from the police to stage a protest, but can only be refused on safety grounds.
Many Muslim-majority countries have condemned the burnings as Islamophobic, and Türkiye even told Sweden that it would block its NATO accession plans as long as it allowed the desecration of the Quran. Ankara later ratified the bid however, and the Nordic state was formally admitted to the US-led military bloc last month.
Stockholm said last year it planned to amend the Public Order Act in order to prevent Quran-burning incidents in the future. Swedish regulators are expected to finalize their review of the draft law by early summer.
Earlier this month, Swedish television channel SVT reported that police had received another request to hold a Quran-burning demonstration on May 3, the day before the start of the Eurovision song contest, which this year takes place in the southern Swedish city of Malmö.
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