At least 10 people were arrested in southern Sweden and several police officers were injured in violence which broke out after an anti-Muslim Danish politician was blocked from attending a Koran-burning rally, police said on Saturday.
Protesters threw stones at police and burned tyres on the streets of Malmo late on Friday, with violence escalating as the evening wore on, according to the police and local media.
The demonstration of about 300 people was connected to an incident earlier in the day in which protesters burned a copy of the Islamic holy book, police spokesman Rickard Lundqvist told Swedish tabloid Expressen.
Arrests and release
Between 10 and 20 protesters were arrested late on Friday and “have all been released,” said police spokesman Patric Fors.
The violence subsided by Saturday morning.
Rasmus Paludan, who leads the far-right Danish anti-immigration party Hard Line, was due to travel to Malmo to speak at Friday’s event, which was being held on the same day as weekly prayers for the Muslim sabbath. But authorities pre-empted Mr. Paludan’s arrival by announcing he had been banned from entering Sweden for two years. He was later arrested near Malmo.
“We suspect that he was going to break the law in Sweden,” said Calle Persson, spokesman for the police in Malmo. But his supporters went ahead with the rally, during which six people were arrested for inciting racial hatred.
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