STOCKHOLM, August 14. /TASS/. A Quran-burning ceremony authorized by Stockholm police was held near the parliament building in the Swedish capital on Monday.
The organizers, Iraqi immigrants Salwan Momika and Salwan Najem, who are already facing criminal charges for inciting hatred over similar demonstrations previously, burned several pages from the Muslim holy book, according to a TASS reporter.
Around 60 people gathered on Minttorget Square, including 20 reporters. Momika and Najem kicked the holy book before burning pages from it. The Muslims standing near the fencing loudly protested against the rally, with one of them shouting out "Burning books is no democracy."
The Swedish Security Service (SAPO) said earlier that the Nordic country had become a priority target for Islamist terrorists following several Quran-burning rallies. At the latest demonstration, the organizers were divided from the audience by police minivans, with policemen standing in rows in front of the site. However, a protester attempted to break through the cordon but was immediately apprehended.
On June 28, with a police permit, Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi immigrant, tore pages out of the Quran and set fire to the Muslim holy book at Medborgarplatsen Square in central Stockholm. At a similar demonstration outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on July 20, Momika and a second organizer, Najem, kicked the holy book but did not burn it, and on July 31 they burned the Quran again, this time outside the Swedish parliament building. On August 3, a police-authorized rally took place on a Lake Malaren beach in the Stockholm suburbs, the organizer of which also burned the Quran, saying that with this demonstration she wished to show that "religion is also politics.".