CAIRO: The 57-state Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said on Sunday collective measures were needed to prevent acts of desecration of the Holy Quran and international law should be used to stop religious hatred after the burning incident in Sweden.

The statement by the OIC was issued after an ‘extraordinary’ meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, called to discuss the incident in which an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, set alight several pages of the Holy Quran outside Stockholm’s main mosque on Wednes­day (June 28).

“We must send constant reminders to the international community regarding the urgent application of international law, which clearly prohibits any advocacy of religious hatred,” OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha said.

The OIC urged member states to “take unified and collective measures to prevent the recurrence of incidents of desecration of copies of the” Holy Quran.

Sweden denounces ‘Islamophobic’ act

Swedish police had gran­ted Salwan Momika a permit in line with free speech protection, but authorities later said they had opened an investigation over “agitation against an ethnic group”, noting that Momika had burnt pages from the holy book very close to the mosque.

On Sunday, Sweden’s government condemned the incident outside Stockholm’s main mosque, calling it an “Islamophobic” act.

“The Swedish government fully understands that the Islamophobic acts committed by individuals at demonstrations in Sweden can be offensive to Mus­lims,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

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

“The burning of the [Holy] Quran, or any other holy text, is an offensive and disrespectful act and a clear provocation. Expressions of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance have no place in Swe­den or in Europe,” the Swe­dish foreign ministry said.

At the same time the ministry added that Sweden has a “constitutionally protected right to freedom of assembly, expression and demonstration”.

Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE and Morocco summoned Swedish ambassadors in protest over the incident. Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran was holding off sending its new ambassador to Sweden, Hojjatollah Faghani.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2023