Sweden: Guilty of Hate Crime Man Who Burned The Qur’an · Global Voices

Court ruled it today, Monday (03.02.25) a militant warring Islam guilty of hate crimes involving his burning publicly, a decision announced five days after another man was also prosecuted in connection with these incidents was shot and killed. 50-year-old Saluan Najem was sentenced to prison on parole and payment of a fine of 4,000 kronors for burning the Qur’an and for derogatory remarks he made about Muslims in the 2023 incidents, leading to riots and causing anger towards Sweden in Muslim countries. CORVERSE Another opponent of Islam, Iraqi refugee Saluan Momika, was shot and killed last week the day the verdict was to be announced in his trial, in a parallel case. So far no murder charges have been filed. Five suspects had been arrested but were released. The Swedish Prime Minister said a foreign state could be behind the murder. The burning of the Qur’an in 2023 made the balance between the right to freedom of speech and the rules to protect ethnic and religious groups a major issue for Sweden and other European countries. CORVERSE The Stockholm District Court ruled that Sweden has extensive freedom of speech rights and that believers of a religion must accept that sometimes they will feel insulted, but Najem and Momika have exceeded the point of a reasonable and sound religious criticism. The court ruled that the two men desecrated the Quran in various ways and made offensive and general statements about Islam, representatives of religion and activities in mosques. The court ruled that the Koran does not have special protection simply because it is a sacred text for Muslims and that there could be cases where burning would not be considered a hate crime. Najem was found guilty of hate crimes because “he expressed contempt for Muslims because of their religious beliefs on four occasions,” the decision says. Najem’s counsel said he’d appeal. “My client believes that his statements fall within the scope of the criticism of religion, which is covered by freedom of speech,” he said. The court withdrew the case against Momika after his death.