Copy of Holy Quran Desecrated outside Stockholm’s Royal Palace

By Staff, Agencies

A copy of the Holy Quran has been desecrated in Sweden’s capital as two men kicked the holy book and burned several of its pages in front of the Royal Palace amid a heavy police presence.

Monday’s incident marked the second time in a matter of weeks that Salwan Momika, 37, and Salwan Najem, 48, have burned the Quran, at Mynttorget, a central square surrounded by government buildings and the palace.

Momika and Najem engaged in a prolonged, theatrical and now familiar desecration of the Quran while using a megaphone to goad counter protesters.

On Monday, several people in the crowd brought their own megaphones, and the two men were largely drowned out by counter protesters.

Present among the crowd was a group wearing firefighter-themed outfits whose members chanted “extinguish the hate” while handing out plastic firefighter hats and encouraging onlookers to speak into their megaphones.

Those granted permission to burn the Quran are allocated a one-hour slot, after which the police disperse them and allow people to collect any remnants of the desecrated holy book.

On this occasion, Momika and Najem had printed multiple pages of the Quran that had text in Arabic as well as translations in Swedish that blew across the square.

After the pair left the area under police escort, several men rushed across the square, picking up the pages from the ground and from the walls leading to the Royal Palace.

This year, several Quran burnings have taken place in Sweden and Denmark, prompting outrage in Muslim countries that have demanded the governments of both countries stop to the incidents.