Stockholm police have again refused to issue a permit for another event at which the Quran was to be burned in front of the Turkish Embassy in the city, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing Swedish public broadcaster SVT.
With this most recent rejection, two applications for Quran burnings have been denied by the Stockholm police in a short period of time.
The decision not to allow the burning of the Quran at public gatherings has a legal basis under Swedish law as it threatens the interests of the country and society, the press secretary for the Stockholm police, Ola Österling, said.
Rasmus Paludan, a politician from Sweden’s far-right Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party, burned a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish diplomatic mission in Stockholm on January 21.
A day later the Quran was torn up by the leader of the right-wing, anti-Islamist Pegida group at a small demonstration in The Hague. On January 28, Paludan burned another Quran in Denmark.
The Swedish Security Service (SÄPO) had previously announced that there has been an increase in the number of threats against Sweden due to Paludan’s stunt.
Although the police do not necessarily consider the threat in this case to be major, such demonstrations threaten Swedish interests and society, and that was the basis for their decision, Österling added.
Protests have taken place across in Turkey and other Muslim countries since the Quran burning in Stockholm, which was condemned by foreign governments, international organizations and rights groups.
Upon the invitation of Turkey, members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened in Jeddah on January 31 to condemn the recent burning and desecration of the Quran in Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark.
The OIC member states also called on these countries to take effective action to prevent a recurrence of ”Islamophobic attacks.”