Sweden charges right-wing activist over Koran burning

Swedish prosecutors have charged a Swedish-Danish right-wing activist with inciting ethnic hatred by desecrating and burning a Koran in 2022.

Rasmus Paludan provoked rioting in Sweden in 2022 when he went on a tour of the country and publicly burned copies of the Koran.

Prosecutors charged him with “agitation against an ethnic group” over a protest in the city of Malmo in April 2022 where he desecrated and set fire to the Muslim holy book, while making disparaging comments about Muslims, according to the charge sheet.

They also charged him with a second count of the same offence over another incident where he made derogatory remarks about Arabs and Africans.

Mr Paludan later stoked international controversy when he set fire to a Koran outside Turkey’s embassy in the Swedish capital in January 2023.

The incident strained relations between the country at a time when Turkey was holding up Sweden’s NATO bid.

Rea more: RTÉ