Third night of riots in Sweden
Since I reported on the altercation in Linkoping on Thursday (14th) following Danish politician Rasmus Paludan, who is on tour burning a copy of the Koran (which it is better to read and then clinically counter and deconstruct the tenets) rioting has spread to other cities.
Malmo (no surprise) Landskrona, Stockholm, Norrkoping and Orebro.
There is not much in English; the Guardian and some syndicated material from Associated Press and AFP in French, via The Times of Israel French edition.
Police said up to 100 mostly young people threw stones, set cars, tyres and dustbins on fire, and put up a barrier fence in the town of Landskrona … The situation calmed in Landskrona by late Saturday but remained tense, police said, adding no injuries were reported in the action.
Kim Hild, spokesperson for police in southern Sweden, had said earlier on Saturday that police would not revoke permission for the Landskrona demonstration organised by party Stram Kurs because the free-speech threshold for doing that is very high in Sweden. The right of the protesters “to demonstrate and speak out weighs enormously, heavily and it takes an incredible amount for this to be ignored,” Hild told Swedish news agency TT.
Since Thursday, clashes have been reported also in Stockholm and in the cities of Linkoping and Norrkoping
Video footage and photos from chaotic scenes in Orebro showed burning police cars and protesters throwing stones and other objects at police officers in riot gear.
This is a video tweet from Swedish writer and advertising editor Ask Wappling. I can’t embed it, and she doesn’t say what town it is. But have the sound on and listen to the constant war-cry of “Allah Akbar”.
In southern Sweden, the city of Malmö was plagued by various episodes of violence overnight, following rallies denouncing the intention of a far-right group to burn a Koran, police said Sunday.
“There were fires at various locations during the night in Malmö,” the police said in a statement. Garbage cans, a bus and a car were burned, it said. Several complaints of vandalism have been filed.
“It calmed down around 3 a.m., there were some fires but the violence subsided,” police spokeswoman Kim Hild told PUBLIC RADIO SR, saying no law enforcement officials were injured.
Today’s latest news from Aftonbladet. Please have patience with my use of Google translate.
On Sunday, far-right Rasmus Paludan plans to hold new meetings – again in Linköping and Norrköping.
In Skäggetorp in Linköping where Paludan intends to burn the Koran, about 30-40 people have gathered shortly after lunchtime and several of them are masked. After 1 p.m., more people began to gather at the site.
According to police, he has not been given any permission to hold the public gatherings.
Paludan says via his party Stram Kurs on Facebook that they will be present from 12 noon. “We don’t need a permit because the police don’t protect demonstrations even if they have a permit,” Stram Kurs, the party that Rasmus Paludan leads, wrote on Facebook.
Violent riots broke out in Linköping and Norrköping this week after Rasmus Paludan planned a Koran burning. At least 16 police officers have been injured and several cars have been set on fire.
Easter, Passover and Ramadan all on the same weekend. It ought to be a celebration of peace.