At least three people in the Swedish city of Norrkoping required medical attention after being injured by police bullets during violent riots over far-right politicians threatening to burn the Quran and pour "pork blood" on the holy book.
The incident occurred over the Easter weekend with some counter-protesters attacking police ahead of planned right-wing extremist demonstrations. In a statement, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has condemned the violence.
Violent Swedish Protests
In an online statement, police said that three citizens were struck by bullets that ricochet and noted that the victims were transferred to a hospital and were being treated. Law enforcement officials said that the three people were arrested on suspicion of a crime. They also added that the injuries were non-life-threatening.
Police said that the situation in the Swedish city was relatively calm on Sunday evening after they had been engaged with protesters in serious clashes in the days prior. At the time, several police officers were injured and protesters torched several vehicles in the area, as per Reuters.
The violent riots began on Thursday after a demonstration organized by the leader of the Danish far-right political party "Hard Line," Rasmus Paludan. The official had permission for a series of demonstrations across the country during the Easter weekend and is known for burning Qurans.
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Anti-muslim and far-right political party Stram Kurs also planned to hold a demonstration in the town of Landskrona. However, they announced a change to the venue and made it to the city of Malmo due to protesters throwing stones and setting fires on cars, tires, and garbage cans in the original area.
According to Fox News, a spokesperson for the police in southern Sweden, Kim Hild, said that authorities were not planning to revoke permission for the anti-Muslim demonstrations. They cited that they did not breach the threshold to deny free speech.
Anti-Muslin Demonstrations
The protesters included up to 100 mostly young people who put up a barrier fence in order to obstruct traffic, said Swedish police. Video footage and photographs from chaotic scenes in Orebro showed police cars on fire and citizens hurling objects at officers who were wearing riot gear.
Hild said that the right of protesters "to demonstrate and speak out weighs enormously, heavily, and it takes an incredible amount for this to be ignored." Law enforcement personnel were believed to have used pepper spray after being forced to disperse protesters in the area who turned violent.
Paludan was also struck by a stone on his leg during the chaotic protests but police reported no serious injuries at the time. Clashes have also occurred in Stockholm and in the city of Linkoping since Thursday. The areas affected were all where Stram Kurs either planned to have or had conducted demonstrations.
Paludan, who is a Danish lawyer who also holds Swedish citizenship, set up Stram Kurs or also called Hard Line in 2017. The party's website says "Stram Kurs is the most patriotic political party in Denmark" as it is known to run on anti-immigration and anti-Islam agenda, the Associated Press reported.
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