Indonesian Muslims protest against Koran burning in Sweden
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Hundreds of Indonesian Muslims marched to the heavily guarded Swedish embassy in the country’s capital Monday to denounce the recent desecration of Islam’s holy book by far-right activists in Sweden and the Netherlands.
Waving white flags with the Islamic declaration of faith, more than 300 protesters filled a major thoroughfare in central Jakarta, trampling and setting fire to portraits of Danish anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan alongside the flags of Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Authorities blocked streets leading to the embassy, where more than 200 police and soldiers were deployed in and around the building, which was barricaded with razor wire.
Earlier this month, Paludan received permission from the police to stage a protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, where on January 21 he burned the Koran. Days later, Edwin Wagensveld, Dutch leader of the far-right Pegida movement in the Netherlands, tore pages from a copy of the Koran near the Dutch parliament and trampled on them.
It angered millions of Muslims around the world and sparked protests, including in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Protesters in Jakarta chanted “God is great” and “Get out, Swedish embassy!”
Indonesia’s government has strongly condemned Paludan’s burning of the Koran and summoned Swedish ambassador Marina Berg last week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.
“This act of blasphemy has damaged and tarnished religious tolerance,” the ministry said in a statement on January 22. “Freedom of expression must be exercised responsibly.”
Turkey has accused the government in Stockholm, which along with Finland applied to join NATO, of being too lax on groups it views as terrorist organizations or existential threats, including Kurdish groups. NATO requires unanimous approval of its existing members to add new ones, but Turkey says it would only agree to admit Sweden if the country met its conditions.
Protest organizer Marwan Batubara told the crowd that Paludan was aggressively hostile to Islam and called on Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark to punish those who desecrated the Koran and apologize to Muslims.
“It hurt us deeply and we demand that Sweden bring him to justice so that such incidents do not happen again,” he said. “Defending those who insult Islam under freedom of speech will only invite martyrs to defend Islam.”
The Swedish embassy in Jakarta said in a statement that “the Islamophobic act committed by a far-right extremist in Sweden is strongly rejected by the Swedish government.”
“This document in no way reflects the views of the Swedish government,” the statement said.
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Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini contributed to this report.