The high representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations has condemned the burning of the holy Quran by a Swedish-Danish far-right politician as a “vile act”.
The Quran burning was carried out by Rasmus Paludan, leader of Danish far-right political party Hard Line. Surrounded by police, Paludan set fire to the holy book with a lighter following a long diatribe of almost an hour, in which he attacked Islam and immigration in Sweden. About 100 people gathered nearby for a peaceful counterdemonstration.
Several Arab countries – including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait – also denounced the Quran-burning.
“Saudi Arabia calls for spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence, and rejects hatred and extremism,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.
“While the High Representative stresses the importance of upholding the freedom of expression as a fundamental human right, he also emphasises that the act of Quran-burning, amounts to an expression of hatred towards Muslims,” a spokesperson for Miguel Angel Moratinos said in a statement released on Sunday.
Moratinos, who heads a UN agency said he was concerned about the rise in “discrimination, intolerance and violence … directed against members of many religious and other communities in various parts of the world”.
Shortly after Paludan burned a copy of the Quran, Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, condemned Swedish authorities for failing to ban the protest.
“It’s a racist action. It’s not about freedom of expression,” he said.
