Hundreds of Indonesian Muslims marched Monday to the heavily guarded Swedish embassy in the country’s capital to denounce the desecration of Islam’s holy e-book by far-right militants in Sweden and the Netherlands.
Waving white flags with the declaration of Islamic faith, more than 300 protesters filled a major thoroughfare in central Jakarta and trampled and set fire to portraits of Danish anti-Islamic activist Rasmus Paludan, as well as the flags of Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Authorities blocked the streets leading to the embassy, where more than two hundred police and infantrymen were deployed in and around the construction barricaded with barbed wire.
Earlier this month, Paludan obtained permission from police to hold a protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, where he burned the Koran on Jan. 21. A few days later, Edwin Wagensveld, the Dutch leader of the far-right Pegida movement in the Netherlands, tore pages from a copy of the Koran near the Dutch parliament and trampled on them.
This has angered millions of Muslims around the world and sparked protests, especially in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country. Protesters in Jakarta chanted “God is great” and “Out, Swedish embassy!”
The Indonesian strongly condemned Paludan’s burning of the Koran and summoned Swedish Ambassador Marina Berg last week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.
“This act of blasphemy has done harm and tarnished devout tolerance,” the ministry said Jan. 22. “Freedom of expression will have to be exercised responsibly. “
Turkey accused the Stockholm government, which signed heavily implemented with Finland to join NATO, of being too lenient on equipment it considers terrorist organizations or existential threats, adding Kurdish equipment. NATO is asking for unanimous approval from its existing members to load new ones, however, Turkey has said it will only agree to admit Sweden if the country meets its conditions.
Protest organizer Marwan Batubara told the crowd that Paludan is aggressively hostile to Islam and called on Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark to punish those who desecrated the Koran and apologize to Muslims.
“This has deeply damaged us and we call on Sweden to bring him to justice so that such incidents do not happen again,” he said. “Defending those who insult Islam under freedom of speech will only invite martyrs to protect Islam. “
The Swedish embassy in Jakarta said in a statement that “the Islamophobic act committed through a far-right extremist in Sweden is firmly rejected by the Swedish government. “
“This act in no way reflects the perspectives of the Swedish government,” he said.
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Associated Press Niniek Karmini contributed to this report.
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