• The charges include desecration of the Qur’an and derogatory remarks about Muslims.
• Sweden’s intelligence service raised its threat level to four in August last year due to the Qur’an burnings.
• The case marks the first time a Swedish court has addressed a charge related to desecrating Islam’s holy book.

On Wednesday, Swedish prosecutors charged two men with inciting ethnic hatred over several Qur’an-burning protests in 2023 that sparked widespread outrage in Muslim countries.

Salwan Momika, a Christian Iraqi who burned Qur’ans at multiple protests, and his co-protester, Salwan Najem, were charged with “agitation against an ethnic group” for four incidents in the summer of 2023.

“Both men are prosecuted for having on these four occasions made statements and treated the Qur’an in a manner intended to express contempt for Muslims because of their faith,” senior prosecutor Anna Hankkio said in a statement.

The charge sheet states that the duo desecrated the Qur’an, including burning it, while making derogatory remarks about Muslims—one instance occurring outside a Stockholm mosque.

“In my opinion, the men’s statements and actions fall under the provisions on agitation against an ethnic or national group and it is important that this matter is tried in court,” the prosecutor added.

The pair’s protests strained relations between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries. Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July 2023, setting fires within the compound on the second occasion.

In August of last year, Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo raised its threat level to four on a scale of five after the Qur’an burnings made the country a “prioritized target.”

The Swedish government condemned the desecrations but emphasized the country’s constitutionally protected freedom of speech and assembly laws. Earlier this month, prosecutors charged Swedish-Danish right-wing activist Rasmus Paludan with the same crime for a 2022 protest in Malmö, which also involved burning the Qur’an.

In October 2023, a Swedish court convicted a man of inciting ethnic hatred for a 2020 Qur’an burning, marking the first time the country’s court system had addressed such a charge related to desecrating Islam’s holy book.

Prosecutors have previously stated that under Swedish law, burning a Qur’an can be viewed as a critique of the book and the religion, and thus protected under free speech. However, depending on the context and statements made, it can also be classified as “agitation against an ethnic group.”

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