A Swedish court on Tuesday ordered the overturning of a police ruling banning protests related to the burning of the Koran, a source of Muslim outrage and criticism of Sweden from countries including Turkey.
The police “did not provide sufficient grounds for their decision,” the Swedish Administrative Court of Appeal stated in a press release.
The court considered that the threats invoked by the police to prohibit the autos-da-fé – which involve the burning of the Muslim holy book, or Alcorão – planned to face the embassies of Turkey and Iraq, were not “sufficiently concrete or linked to the demonstrations in question”.
In January, the Koran burned by anti-Islamic extremist Rasmus Paludan outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm exposed the Swedish government’s condemnation of Muslim countries.
After Paludan, a Danish-Swedish activist, was granted permission for the January protest, police opted to ban further planned demonstrations aimed at burning the Muslim holy book, citing in particular security threats.
These prohibitions were challenged before the courts, considering that they would violate the constitutional freedom of demonstration.
This issue related to the burning of the Koran in demonstrations is one of the reasons why Turkey decided to approve Finland’s entry into NATO, but not Sweden’s.
Finland will officially join the Atlantic Alliance on Tuesday at a ceremony in Brussels, but Swedish membership still requires ratifications from Turkey and Hungary.
Despite these blockades, Sweden still hopes to join NATO before their next summit in Vilnius in July.
Source: TSF
