Danish-Swedish politician, Rasmus Paludan, whose Quran-burning meetings throughout Sweden recently sparked a massive backlash from the country's Muslim population, has appealed the police's decision to deny him a demonstration permit in the city of Borås in Västra Götaland County on 29 April.
By his own admission, Paludan planned to burn one or more Qurans and possibly drench them in pig's blood. The politician's previous actions triggered massive protests and civil unrest with arson and stone-throwing and led to 26 police being injured and at least 40 people detained, including minors.
The police justified their denial by claiming that security and order cannot be guaranteed if the permit applied for is granted.
However, announcing the rejection of Paludan's application in Borås, Emelie Kullmyr, the police chief in the western region, also called for a continued fight against Paludan and his message.
“Rasmus Paludan has a rhetoric that is about creating disorder and chaos. We need help in breaking that rhetoric,” Kullmyr said in a statement.
The decision to deny Paludan permission to hold a meeting Borås has already been appealed by 15 people. The complainants to the ombudsman consider the decision to be against the constitution. Many also argue that the police chief expressed herself in an inappropriately biased and partial manner.
In an appeal of his own, Paludan accused the Swedish police of abuse of power, Swedish Radio reported. Among other things, Paludan said that denying him and his party Hard Line, which will run in this year's parliamentary election, demonstration permits runs contrary to fundamental rights.
Although riots after Paludan's previous demonstrations held earlier in April resulted in damage estimated to cost the state millions of kronor, Paludan described the serial Quran-burnings as “election tour” and promised more demonstrations of the same kind.
In 2019, Paludan ran for the Danish parliament with his Hard Line party on a sternly anti-Islam agenda and a promise to deport anti-western immigrants, but he fell short of clearing the 2-percent barrier. Now, he intends to try his luck in Sweden.
Paludan's trademark Quran-burnings, which he and his party celebrate as freedom of speech despite the violent backlash, have placed him under police protection and turned him into the object of an investigation back in 2020. Back then the prosecution closed the preliminary investigation, ruling that the act was not criminal. However, the Malmö police recently reported Paludan once again for incitement of ethnic hatred.
Before 1970, Sweden had a law on religious peace, a continuation of the older blasphemy law, which stipulated it to be a criminal offence to violate something considered sacred, either verbally or through action. However, it was abolished as being inconsistent with freedom of expression.