HELSINKI (AP) – Swedish police say they are preparing for further violent clashes over the next …
HELSINKI (AP) – Swedish police say they are preparing for further violent clashes following riots between protesters and protesters on Friday in central Orebro ahead of an anti-Islamic far-right group’s plan to burn the Koran. .
Southern Sweden police spokesman Kim Hild said police would not withdraw permission for a planned demonstration by the Danish right-wing party Stram Kurs in southern Landskrona on Saturday because the threshold is very high in Sweden. who value freedom of speech.
The right of the protesters to “protest and speak out loud is enormous, and ignoring this requires an incredible amount,” Hild told the Swedish news agency TT.
However, police said the protest will be moved to another, undisclosed location, according to TT. Rasmus Paludan, director of the Stram Course, also planned to burn the Koran in Landskrona, the agency said.
Hild said police are preparing for the demonstration and possible violence with additional resources “given what has happened in recent days” in the Nordic countries.
The two-day riots in various Swedish cities triggered by a Stram Kurs demonstration culminated in violent clashes in Örebro late Friday, in which 12 police officers were injured and four police vehicles set on fire.
Video footage and photographs of chaotic scenes in Örebro showed burning police cars and protesters throwing rocks and other objects at police in riot gear.
Conflicts have also been reported in recent days in Stockholm and in the cities of Linköping and Norrköping – all places where Stram Kurs either planned or held demonstrations.
Paludan, a Danish lawyer who also has Swedish citizenship, founded the Stram Kurs, or “Hard Line,” in 2017. The website of the Party for Immigration and Anti-Islam says, “Stram Kurs is the most patriotic political party in Denmark.”