Clashes erupt in Swedish city after another Koran burning

September 5, 2023 Article

Clashes have erupted in an immigrant neighbourhood in Sweden’s third largest city after an anti-Muslim protester set fire to the Koran, police have said.

Police in Malmo said they were pelted with rocks and dozens of cars were set on fire, including in an underground garage, describing the events that started on Sunday and lasted overnight as “a riot”.

The clashes started after an anti-Islam activist Salwan Momika burned a copy of the Koran and an angry mob tried to stop him while police, some of them in riot gear, detained at least three people.

Early on Monday, an angry crowd of mainly young people also set fire to tyres and debris, and some were seen throwing electric scooters, bicycles and barriers in Malmo’s Rosengard neighbourhood, which has seen similar clashes in the past. There were several banners relating to the Koran burning.

Senior police officer Petra Stenkula said: “I understand that a public gathering like this arouses strong emotions, but we cannot tolerate disturbances and violent expressions like those we saw on Sunday afternoon.

“It is extremely regrettable to once again see violence and vandalism at Rosengard.”

Speaking at a news conference, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said: “Regardless of the reason behind these riots, the car fires, the harassment, violence against police officers… regardless of the reason, I think that all Swedes find this completely unacceptable.”

In the past months, Mr Momika, a refugee from Iraq, has desecrated the Koran in a series of anti-Islam protests mostly in Stockholm that have caused anger in many Muslim countries. Swedish police have allowed his actions, citing freedom of speech.

The Koran burnings have sparked angry protests in Muslim countries, attacks on Swedish diplomatic missions and threats from Islamic extremists. Muslim leaders in Sweden have called on the government to find ways to stop the Koran burnings.

Sweden dropped its last blasphemy laws in the 1970s and the government has said it has no intention to reintroduce them.

However, the government has announced an inquiry into legal possibilities for enabling police to reject permits for demonstrations over national security concerns.

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Categories: Koran Burning, Malmo, News, Quran, Rosengard, Swedish city

AfD politician resigns from local council after daubing Nazi symbols

August 31, 2023 Article

A local councillor from the south-western German city of Baden-Baden has resigned from the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) after being accused of daubing Nazi swastikas on cars with Ukrainian licence plates.

The public prosecutor’s office in Baden-Baden had announced at the beginning of the week – without giving a name – that a councillor was suspected of defacing two cars with Ukrainian licence plates with the Nazi symbol and also writing the words “Fuck UA” in large letters on the vehicles.

The AfD faction in Baden-Baden announced that Martin Kühne had resigned from the party and his position as councillor.

“This closes the case for us,” the AfD party’s co-chair Markus Frohnmaier told dpa on Wednesday evening, after Kühne’s resignation.

Frohnmaier told dpa that people who did not act in the interests of the party had to leave it. He said the matter had been settled amicably at the district level, and the state-level party association had not intervened.

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Categories: AfD, Alternative for Germany (AfD), Nazi, News, Swastikas

University PhD student made drone to help Islamic State terror group, court told

August 23, 2023 Article

A University of Birmingham PhD student plotted to supply Islamic State terrorists with a drone capable of delivering a bomb or chemical weapon, a terror trial jury has heard.

Prosecutors allege Mohamad Al-Bared was designing and building the unmanned aerial device, found in a bedroom at his home, when he was arrested in January this year.

The 26-year-old mechanical engineering graduate, of Kare Road, Coventry, went on trial before a jury at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday.

He denies a charge alleging he engaged in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts to benefit a proscribed terrorist organisation.

Opening the Crown’s case, prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC told the court: “His home was searched and police found a drone.

“They also found material suggesting this defendant supported Islamic State, a terrorist organisation.”

The court heard Al-Bared, who lived with his parents, was arrested while driving at the same time as the raid took place, and had a mobile phone which police also seized.

Al-Bared was studying for a PhD at the University of Birmingham, the court heard, and a 3D printer was also found at his home, which could be used to make parts for the drone.

Ms Heeley alleged that evidence gathered from devices said to belong to Al-Bared showed he was a supporter of Islamic State and that “this drone was being built” to help the organisation.

After showing the drone, which was contained in a large see-through plastic bag, to the jury, the prosecutor said it was of a type which has landing gear and a small digital camera.

“It had all the components required for it to fly,” Ms Heeley added. “We suggest it was being manufactured to deliver a bomb … to fly into IS enemy territory and deliver a chemical weapon or some other kind of device.”

During the opening day of the trial, Ms Heeley also alleged that Al-Bared had filled in an Islamic State application form and set up a UK-registered company to help plans for future foreign travel.

Ms Heeley continued: “He says he is not responsible for filling in the application form, but we say how else has it got there?”

Written material saying the idea for the drone was “somewhat inspired by the design of the Tomahawk missile” was put before the jury, in what the Crown claims was Al-Bared describing his build process.

Ms Heely said of the evidence found on an electronic device, which also included reference to fuses, mechanical detonators and an “explosive” head: “He is literally reporting back to someone about what it is that he is doing.

“What drone for legitimate use needs an explosive head?

“What does need an explosive head is a drone that has been designed on a missile.”

Ms Heeley told the jury: “That’s the real reason this drone is being built.

“That one sentence tells you what this case is about and why we say the defendant is guilty.

“The only reasonable conclusion you can reach is you can be sure that he was preparing for acts of terrorism.”

Al-Bared, whose PhD work involved laser-based micro-drilling, denies a single charge covering the period between January 1 2022 and January 31 this year.

The trial continues next Tuesday.

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Categories: Birmingham PhD student, Crown Prosecution Service, Drone, Islamic Sate, Mohamed Al-Barad, News, Prosecution, terrorism, Tomohawk missile

Pakistan is not Safe for Christians Any More

August 17, 2023 Article

OPINION – FAITH MATTERS

We rarely take a position as an organisation, to suggest that a country is no longer safe for Christians. However, repeated attacks against Christians in Pakistan and the recent attacks on churches and Christians in Jaranwala, have one thing in common. They are based on Christians simply being accused of blasphemy.

Repeated governments of Pakistan have failed to stop such attacks. They have failed to challenge and implement educational measures in schools to defend the rights of minorities, yet Pakistan has relied on western aid and arms for decades. It is time that Pakistan be told that such attacks against Christians cannot be tolerated without serious impacts on exports to the country.

Many Pakistani politicians have played a dual approach in their relations with the West. They have talked about challenging extremism and terrorism, whilst quietly allowing Islamist extremists to operate from Pakistan. Let us not forget that Bin Laden was finally found to be resident in Abbottabad and it beggars belief that Government politicians and officials played the feigned ignorance approach to his residence in the country even though he was living in Pakistan for years.

We are at a point where Christians in Pakistan feel unsafe and liable to attack. This is not felt in a small section of Pakistani Christians but throughout the community. No doubt, they will be blamed for further ills and each attack is growing more violent and widespread against this vulnerable community.

Pakistan is no longer safe for Christians. We need to be clear that their lives are not cheap and that any further attacks will see sanctions and trade embargoes on the country.

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Categories: Bin Laden, Christians, Islamist extremists, Jaranwala, Persecution

Churches in Pakistan attacked after Christian man accused of desecrating Koran

August 16, 2023 Article

Muslims in eastern Pakistan went on a rampage over allegations that a Christian man had desecrated the Koran, demolishing the man’s house, burning churches and damaging several other homes, police and local Christians have said.

The scale of the violence prompted the government to deploy additional police forces and send in the army to help restore order.

The attacks in Jaranwala, in the district of Faisalabad in Punjab province, erupted after some Muslims living in the area claimed they had seen a local Christian, Raja Amir, and his friend tearing out pages from a Koran, throwing them on the ground and writing insulting remarks on other pages.

Police chief Rizwan Khan said this had angered the local Muslims.

A mob gathered and began attacking multiple churches and several Christian homes, burning furniture and other household items.

Some members of the Christian community fled their homes to escape the mob.

Police eventually intervened, firing into the air and wielding batons before dispersing the attackers with the help of Muslim clerics and elders.

Authorities also said they have started launching raids in an effort to find all the perpetrators.

Dozens of rioters were arrested.

Police chief Bilal Mehmood told reporters they were also looking for Mr Amir, who went into hiding to escape the mob, and would detain him to determine whether he had desecrated the Koran.

Videos and photos posted on social media show an angry mob descending upon a church, throwing pieces of bricks and burning it.

In another video, two other churches are attacked, their windows broken as attackers throw furniture out and set it on fire.

Several policemen are seen in the videos watching the situation without intervening to stop the vandalism.

In yet another video, a man is seen climbing to the roof of the church and removing the steel cross after repeatedly hitting it with a hammer as the crowd down on the road cheered him on.

Khalid Mukhtar, a local priest, said most of the Christians living in the area had fled to safer places.

“Even my house was burned,” he added.

Mr Mukhtar said there are 17 churches in Jaranwala and he believes most of them were attacked.

The authorities did not immediately confirm that figure.

Mr Khan said additional police forces were later deployed in Jaranwala and an investigation was under way.

He said all involved in the attack would be prosecuted.

“Our first priority was to save the lives of all of the Christians,” he said.

Later in the evening, troops started arriving in Jaranwala to help the police.

Angry Muslims were urged to go back to their homes, allegedly with promises that the man who allegedly desecrated the Koran would soon be arrested.

A delegation of Muslim clerics also arrived in Jaranwala from the city of Lahore to express solidarity with the Christians.

Blasphemy accusations are common in Pakistan.

Under the country’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death.

While authorities have yet to carry out a death sentence for blasphemy, often just the accusation can cause riots and incite mobs to violence, lynching and killings.

In one of the worst attacks on Christians, a mob in 2009 burned an estimated 60 homes and killed six Christians in the district of Gojra in Punjab, after accusing them of insulting Islam.

Wednesday’s attack drew nationwide condemnation from top leaders and major political parties.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said he was “gutted” by the images coming out of Faisalabad.

“Stern action would be taken against those who violate law and target minorities. All law enforcement has been asked to apprehend culprits & bring them to justice,” he tweeted.

A senior Christian leader, Bishop Azad Marshall, appealed for help on social media and said he was “deeply pained and distressed”.

“We cry out for justice and action from law enforcement and those who dispense justice and the safety of all citizens to intervene immediately and assure us that our lives are valuable in our own homeland that has just celebrated independence and freedom,” he tweeted.

Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the rampage, saying: “There is no place for violence in any religion.”

In the southern port city of Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province, dozens of Christians rallied to denounce the attacks in Jaranwala.

Domestic and international human rights groups say blasphemy allegations have often been used to intimidate religious minorities in Pakistan and settle personal scores.

In December 2021, a Muslim mob descended on a sports equipment factory in Pakistan’s Sialkot district, killing a Sri Lankan man and burning his body publicly over allegations of blasphemy.

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Categories: Blasphemy, Christian, Christianity, imams, Jaranwala, Pakistan, Stoned