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Foreign Ministry summons Swedish envoy over Quran burning

"Yes, [we will meet her] within this week," Faizasyah said, without disclosing a date.

Agence France-Presse (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta/Istanbul/Lahore
Wed, January 25, 2023

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Foreign Ministry summons Swedish envoy over Quran burning

J

akarta summoned Sweden's envoy on Tuesday over the burning of the Quran by a far-right activist in Stockholm on the weekend, officials said.

Swedish-Danish politician Rasmus Paludan on Saturday torched a copy of the Islamic holy book in front of Turkey's embassy in the Swedish capital, stoking the anger of Ankara, which said it would not support the Scandinavian country's bid for NATO membership.

Sweden's ambassador to Indonesia, Marina Berg, was summoned as Jakarta lodged an official complaint against the anti-Islamic act, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah told AFP.

"Yes, [we will meet her] within this week," Faizasyah said, without disclosing a date.

The Swedish embassy confirmed Berg would hold a meeting with an official from the Foreign Ministry, without specifying the day it would take place.

Swedish leaders have roundly condemned Paludan's actions but defended their country's broad definition of free speech.

Paludan's burning of the Quran sparked rallies outside Swedish missions in several countries, including Turkey and Iraq, where protesters torched the Swedish flag on Monday and a policeman and seven protesters were injured.

Ankara on Saturday called off a visit by Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson, which had been scheduled for Jan. 27, after summoning the Swedish ambassador and saying the meeting "has lost its significance and meaning".

Paludan, who has already been convicted of racist abuse, provoked rioting in Sweden last year when he went on a tour of the country during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and publicly burned copies of the Quran.

Protest in Pakistan

Hundreds of people staged a protest in Muslim-majority Pakistan on Tuesday to voice outrage over the torching of the Quran in Sweden over the weekend.

Protesters chanted "shame on Sweden" at the rally in the megacity of Lahore, heeding a call from local political parties.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tweeted on Sunday: "The garb of the freedom of expression cannot be used to hurt the religious emotions of 1.5 billion Muslims across the world. This is unacceptable."

Furious that Paludan was allowed by police to carry out the protest, Ankara cancelled a visit by Sweden's defense minister and summoned Stockholm's ambassador.

The incident was condemned by Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who tweeted: "Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy. But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate. Burning books that are holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act."

"I want to express my sympathy for all Muslims who are offended by what has happened in Stockholm today."

Blasphemy and insults to Islam are galvanizing issues in Pakistan, which has regularly raised its concerns of rising Islamophobia across the world on the international stage.

Attack against Islam

In the meantime, Turkey on Tuesday summoned the Dutch ambassador to express its deep displeasure with an anti-Islam protest in The Hague targeting the Quran.

The Turkish foreign ministry said it condemned "in the strongest possible terms the vile attack of an anti-Islamic person" in the Dutch city on Sunday.

The Dutch public broadcaster NOS said Edwin Wagensveld, who heads the Dutch chapter of the German anti-Islam group Pegida, tore pages out of the Muslim holy book during a one-man protest.

Images on social media also showed him walking on the torn pages of the holy book.

The summons came days after a similar protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm threatened to sink Sweden's ambitions to join the NATO defense bloc.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Sweden could no longer expect support for its NATO membership bid following its decision to allow an anti-Islam protester to burn the Quran.

The anti-Islam protests have stirred anger in Turkey, an officially secular but mostly Muslim country facing a crucial election in May.

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