Prosecutors say the lads “dealt with the Quran in a fashion meant to specific contempt for Muslims due to their religion.”
Two males are to face trial in Sweden after burning the Koran a number of occasions throughout protests final yr, sparking widespread outrage in Muslim international locations.
Swedish prosecutors stated Wednesday that Salwan Momika and Salwan Najem dedicated “crimes of agitation towards an ethnic or nationwide group” 4 separate occasions.
The costs say the pair desecrated the Koran, together with by burning it, whereas making derogatory remarks about Muslims, in a single case exterior a mosque within the capital, Stockholm.
The occasions of the summer time of 2023 angered Muslim leaders, prompted Sweden to tighten safety and strained its relations with Center Jap international locations.
“Each males are prosecuted for having made on these 4 events statements and having handled the Koran in a method that was meant to specific contempt for Muslims due to their religion,” stated lead prosecutor Anna Hankkio in an announcement.
“For my part, the lads’s statements and actions fall below the provisions on agitation towards an ethnic or nationwide group, and it’s important that this matter be tried in courtroom,” he added.
The proof towards the lads was primarily video recordings, Hankkio stated.
Najem stated he was not improper, his lawyer, Mark Safaryan, informed Reuters information company.
“The permission granted in reference to the demonstration relies on my consumer’s intention. His rights are protected by the Swedish Structure,” stated Safaryan.
Momika, a Christian refugee from Iraq, stated he needed to protest towards the establishment of Islam and ban its holy e book.
Sweden’s immigration company stated it needed to deport Momika due to false info on his residency utility, however the order wouldn’t be enforced as a result of he was vulnerable to torture in Iraq.
The fires sparked massive protests in lots of international locations.
In Iraq, protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July 2023, setting fires on the premises.
Following the Koran burnings, the United Nations Human Rights Council handed a decision on hatred and spiritual intolerance, with solely the US and the European Union abstaining resulting from a battle with their positions on freedom of expression.
Critics have stated that Quran burnings are a type of free speech that needs to be protected by regulation.
This month, prosecutors additionally charged Danish-Swedish right-wing activist Rasmus Paludan with the identical offence over a 2022 Quran-burning protest within the southern Swedish metropolis of Malmo.
In neighbouring Denmark, which additionally suffered a wave of Koran burnings final yr, laws has been tightened to ban the observe.
