While a spectacular fire-fighting campaign prevented the public burning of another copy of the Koran in the Swedish capital Stockholm, a similar, but undisturbed, desecration of the Muslim community took place in front of the Turkish embassy in The Hague in the Netherlands on Friday. holy book came. The head of the local chapter of the Islamophobic German Pegida movement, Edwin Wagensveld, stepped on the holy book and then tore it up.
Authorities had previously condemned the move, but said they could not ban it for legal reasons. The Dutch news agency ANP quoted Dutch Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgöz as saying that it was “rather primitive and pathetic” to destroy or burn a book. But it is “allowed in our country, you have that freedom”. According to Yesilgöz, a possible terrorist attack in retaliation for the violation of the Koran is an unavoidable threat.
Activist compares Islam to National Socialism
Wagensveld appeared in a T-shirt with the inscription “Islam is no better than National Socialism”. The police had blocked access to the embassy in the center of The Hague for about 50 counter-demonstrators. The mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen, told AFP that the city stands for respectful and inclusive living together and distances itself from “behaviors” that do not contribute to this. The right-wing populist Geert Wilders, on the other hand, supported the action on platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Wagensveld is already on trial for an earlier violation of the Quran. The Public Prosecution Service had stated in August that tearing up the Koran fell under the far-reaching right to criticize religion in the Netherlands. However, Wagensveld’s statements during his performance could be made punishable because “intentionally insulting a group of people because of their religion or belief” is punishable.
Source: Krone
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