A policeman during riots in the city of Malmo, Sweden, on April 16, 2022. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency/AFP.
After three days of excesses, new protests were announced for this Sunday, but this time they are not authorized.
A wave of violent riots with police cars burned and officers injured has hit several cities in Sweden in recent days after authorities gave the go-ahead for a far-right group to carry out demonstrations during which they planned to burn copies of the Koran, the sacred book of Islam equivalent to the Christine Bible.
The riots began in the city of Linkoping on Thursday, April 14, but quickly spread to Orebro, Malmo, Norrkoping, Landskrona and Stockholm, among other cities. The anti-Islamic demonstrations are organized by Danish-Swedish lawyer Rasmus Paludan, leader of the far-right Danish Hard Line (Stram Kurs) party, which has staged similar events in the past.
Landskrona in south Sweden saw a night of rioting after the Danish far-right Stram Kurs party planned to burn a Koran.
About 100 people threw stones, set cars, tyres, & dustbins on fire, & putt up a fence in the town.
Stram Kurs has an anti-immigration & anti-Islam agenda pic.twitter.com/NUTH9utIBB
— David Atherton (@DaveAtherton20) April 17, 2022
Thus, tensions intensified this Friday in the city of Orebro. Videos and photos from the scene show chaotic scenes with police vehicles on fire, as participants throw stones and other objects at police officers in riot gear. At one point, police had to fire warning shots to break up the protests. In all, 12 police officers and one civilian were injured, although no one was arrested, SVT Nyheter reported.
Jag kom hela vägen från Miami till min mammas stad Örebro. Rökpelare mötte mig över staden. Sedan detta. 200 meter från hennes lägenhet. Inte en polis var kvar. Eller brandman. Full brand. Alla hade flytt. Aldrig sett liknande i någon stad jag bott i. pic.twitter.com/9aRZDh8ZSc
— peterrost (@peterrost) April 17, 2022
This Saturday about 100 participants, mostly young people, threw stones, set fire to cars, tires and garbage cans , and obstructed traffic in the city of Landskrona, AP reported. The unrest followed the authorities’ decision to move the planned demonstration from Stram Kurs to Malmo, located some 45 kilometers to the south, just hours before its scheduled start, Aftonbladet details.
I Malmö nu kl 00:35
17 april
Från en live video pic.twitter.com/5TkAOPSj53— Nike (@cx1nikeee) April 16, 2022
The authorities did not reverse their decision, arguing freedom of expression, so the protest was moved to Malmo, but the scenario was repeated. Paludan addressed dozens of participants, however, a group of the opponents threw stones at them. The uniformed men had to intervene, using pepper spray to disperse the crowd. Police reported that the organizer himself was hit in the leg by a stone, although no serious injuries were reported.
Polisförbundet efter våldsamma upploppen: ”Givetvis ett misslyckande”https://t.co/k5pTsCxNA9 pic.twitter.com/qTTaBCOOtq
— Aftonbladet (@Aftonbladet) April 16, 2022
After three days of excesses, the far-right announced new protests in the cities of Linkoping and Norrkoping, but this time he no longer enjoyed the permission of the authorities.
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“We will respond correctly, we uphold law and order in society. How exactly our tactical resources will be distributed, we are keeping to ourselves for security reasons,” police spokesman Johnny Gustavsson said. About the political organization they said that they do not need the authorization since “the police do not protect the demonstrations.”
Rasmus Paludan begår nedskräpning när han bränner koranen. Jag uppmanar folk att polisanmäla honom. Videos bevis på hans fb Stram kurs. Ring 11414 och anmäl. #polisen #svpol #Rinkeby #linköping #norrköping #vivalla #örebro #rasmuspaludan @yb_sodermalm pic.twitter.com/zK878B5ZRm
— NFTkillen (@abdirichboy) April 15, 2022
Meanwhile, the official account of the Stram Kurs party is plagued with videos in which copies of the Muslim holy book are incinerated. Thus, in one of the recordings Paludan appears burning the Koran in the framework of a demonstration in the Rinkeby district of Stockholm that occurred this Friday.
The Stram Kurs party was founded by Paludan in 2017 with an anti-immigration and anti-Islamic core as its agenda. The demonstrations carried out by the Danish politician and the subsequent riots occurred during the month of Ramadan.
All these incidents occur while the European region is plagued with harsh economic constraints as a result of the inappropriate handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the lack of capacity of the capitalist system to respond to its challenges. To this has been added the direct effects of European Union (EU) sanctions against Russia, putting additional stress on prices in the region, mainly due to the lack of endogenous energy sources and dependence on Russian oil and gas.
In addition to this explosive cocktail, racism is not alien to Europe; white supremacy and neo-Nazi ideology has gained a lot of traction in recent months as people all over the world see an Ukrainian regime glorifying Neo-nazi organizations, and while mainstream media whitewashes their atrocities.
Featured image: A policeman during riots in the city of Malmo, Sweden, on April 16, 2022. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency/AFP.
(Actualidad RT) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/EF
