Dozens arrested during weekend of far-right rallies in Sweden

Berlin, Apr 18 (EFE).- Swedish police arrested 26 people during disturbances linked to far-right and Islamaphobic rallies held over the weekend, which included plans to burn copies of the Quran.

The latest arrests were made in the cities of Norrköping and Linkoping, located to the south of Stockholm, the Swedish capital, according to public TV channel SVT.

The rallies organized by the far-right Hard Line party were met with counter protests in Linkoping.

The party’s leader, Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan, called for demonstrations in several cities, including Stockholm, as well as plans to burn copies of the Quran at each event.

Clashes broke out in the city of Malmö on Saturday, where several vehicles were set alight ahead of the far-right demonstrations.

The city of Örebro was the scene of violence between protesters and counter-protesters on Friday.

The ethnic nationalist Hard Line party is based in Denmark, where it has no seats in parliament, but is organizing political events in Sweden ahead of elections in September.

Paludan’s calls to burn copies of the Quran, which coincide with the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, has sparked condemnation from governments in Iran, Iraq and Malaysia. EFE

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