The Swedish government on Sunday condemned the burning of a copy of the Koran in front of Stockholm’s largest Islamic mosque, calling it an “Islamophobic” act, following an appeal by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to prevent a repeat of such acts.

The government is “fully aware that such Islamophobic acts committed (…) during demonstrations in Sweden can be offensive to Muslims,” ​​the Swedish Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

“We strongly condemn these acts, which in no way reflect the views of the Swedish government,” he added.

This announcement follows the call of the OIS, an international organization to which 57 countries belong, to prevent the burning of other copies of the Koran.

It called on its member states to “take collective measures to prevent the recurrence of the desecration of copies (of the Koran),” in a statement released after an “emergency” meeting at its headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (west).

“The burning [αντιτύπου] of the Koran, or any other holy text, is offensive and disrespectful and a clear provocation. Manifestations of racism, xenophobia and intolerance have no place in Sweden or in Europe,” according to the announcement of Swedish diplomacy.

At the same time, however, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out that in Sweden “freedom of assembly, expression and demonstration is protected by the Constitution”.

After the self-burial, Muslim-majority countries (Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Morocco) called Sweden’s ambassadors and lodged protests.

The Swedish police had given permission for the protest to take place. However, after the burning of pages of the Koran, he began to conduct an investigation “for incitement [μίσους] against a national team”.