Press Release
The Swedish Government is Responsible for the Burning of the Quran and Cannot be Saved by Crocodile Tears

On Saturday, January 21, the right-wing extremist Paludan burned the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy under police protection, which led to Turkey and Indonesia calling in the Swedish ambassador, several Muslim rulers condemned the burning of the Quran, and several protests erupted in the Islamic world.

Once again, the Quran is burned with the blessing of the Swedish state, but this time with stronger reactions than Sweden could have imagined. It caused the Swedish government to express sympathy with the Muslims and condemn the burning of the Quran after the same governing parties for years have been a significant factor in the hatred against Islam and Muslims in this country. We are not deceived by their hypocritical position. The politicians in this country have demonized Islam and the Muslims for the last ten years and are mainly responsible for the burnings of the Quran and the hate speech against the Muslims.

When right-wing extremists burn the Quran under police protection while Muslims are demonized, marginalized and discriminated against, when mosques and Muslim schools are being closed, when Muslim symbols such as the veil are getting banned, when Muslim women and premises are subjected to attacks from racists and when Muslim children are kidnapped, when the Quran is allowed to be burned by right-wing extremists in this atmosphere and context, it sends a dangerous message to Muslims; assimilate with our values or leave the country, otherwise the right-wing extreme monster will be unleashed upon you. Thus, the right-wing is a political tool to scare Muslims into assimilation. Therefore, the government has spent tens of millions of krona to protect the burnings of the Quran.

Sweden has suffered from bloody gang wars for years and in the past week several shootings have taken place in the capital Stockholm, but the government seems to want to spend its resources on its doomed fight against Islam. Instead, it has been counterproductive as more Swedes adopt Islam daily in Sweden and even more Muslim youth return to Islam. Your hate actions do not harm the Muslims nor the Quran, it only shows the weakness of your own ideology and values which you, yourselves, hardly uphold anymore.

The government did not expect this reaction from the world, even though Muslim rulers have only been content to condemn the burning of the Quran. It is not in Sweden's interest to make an enemy of the Muslims when the Muslims are getting closer to regaining their authority and their rightful position among the nations. It will not be beneficial for Sweden to have persecuted Muslims and desecrated their symbols when the Muslims soon re-establish the righteous caliphate and appoint their righteous leader who actually protects the interests of the Muslims.

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
in Sweden