STOCKHOLM, August 18. /TASS/. An unidentified woman has attempted to prevent another Quran burning near the Iranian Embassy in Stockholm, the Aftonbladet newspaper reported.
When the rally’s organizer, Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi immigrant, set the holy book on fire she rushed to him with an activated fire extinguisher to put out the flames. However, she was intercepted by the police and the authorized rally went on.
The police has not yet commented on the rally. "I am aware that a public meeting is underway. We will see what happens there," Towe Hagg, spokeswoman for the police said. Another public rally received a permit from the police.
As the TT News agency reported earlier, the rallies’ organizers air them live on Tiktok and post other videos criticizing Islam. These posts receive tens of millions of views and, according to Momika, he can live off his Tiktok earnings without receiving any aid from social services.
A police-authorized rally where the Islamic holy book was set on fire took place in Medborgarplatsen Square in downtown Stockholm on June 28. Momika tore pages from the Quran and set them on fire. On July 20, Momika and another organizer, Salwan Najem, kicked the sacred book in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm. On July 31 and August 14, Momika once again burned pages from the Quran outside the building of the Riksdag, the Swedish parliament. On August 3, another police-authorized demonstration involving burning of the Quran took place on a beach at Lake Malaren outside the Swedish capital. Its organizer, an Iranian immigrant woman, burned a copy of the Quran, saying that she wanted to demonstrate that "religion is also part of politics."