Indonesia Condemns the Burning of A Book of Al-Quran in Sweden

Jakarta, MINA – The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the burning of the book of Al-Quran in Sweden by Rasmus Paludan, a Danish politician, in the cities of Linkoping and Norkoping, Sweden on Thursday. This is the official statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received by MINA on Sunday.

Previously, Rasmus Paludan carried out similar acts of blasphemy against the holy book in the cities of Rinkeby and rebro, Sweden.

He uses the argument for freedom of expression to insult the religion and beliefs of a group.

The Indonesian Embassy in Stockholm has asked all Indonesian citizens and the Indonesian diaspora in Sweden not to be provoked and to avoid actions that could potentially violate Swedish laws and regulations.

The burning of the Quran in the City of Linkoping is said to be the work of the right-wing political party, Stram Kurs led by Rasmus Paludan.

A large group of 200 Muslims gathered to protest the act of ‘blasphemy’, which Stram Kurs committed by burning the Quran. The crowd pelted police with stones, blocked roads for movement of vehicles and carried out arson attacks.

Mikail Yuksel, founder of the Swedish Nuance Party, accused Paludan, chairman of the Stram Kurs party, of being the mastermind behind provoking the public against Muslims by committing acts of blasphemy outside mosques and in Muslim-majority areas.

Paludan has been in the spotlight for several years because of his actions which are considered to have broken unity. In November 2020, he was arrested in France and deported.

Shortly after, five other activists were arrested in Belgium accused of spreading hatred by burning Korans in Brussels.(T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)