JABAR EKSPRES – The Indonesian government strongly condemns the provocative act of burning the Quran that occurred in front of the Sodermalm Mosque, Stockholm, Sweden, during the Eid al-Adha celebration. Through its official Twitter account, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the act was very painful for Muslims and could not be justified.
Indonesia emphasizes that freedom of expression must respect the values and beliefs of other religions. Together with members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Sweden, Indonesia has protested against this incident.
The burning of the Quran is not the first incident in Sweden, and this time it was committed by an Iraqi citizen named Salwan Momika. Momika tore out several pages of a copy of the Quran and burned them with the intention of criticizing Islam, as well as identifying himself as a secular atheist on social media. He also praised Rasmus Paludan, a Swedish right-wing politician, who had also burned the Muslim holy book.
According to Momika, Islam is a threat to Swedish values. Following Momika’s burning of the Quran on Eid al-Adha on June 28, Swedish police began an investigation into alleged acts of hate related to Islamophobia.
A previous application regarding the burning of the Muslim holy book in front of the Swedish Embassies in Turkey and Iraq was initially rejected by the Swedish police, but the decision was later overturned by the courts. Therefore, the Swedish police could not object to today’s Quran burning by activists.
