The secretary of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights and the Judiciary chief’s deputy for international affairs has blasted the “deafening silence” of the so-called rights advocates on desecration of the Holy Qur’an by a notorious Swedish extremist, saying the sacrilegious move is a clear example of hate-mongering against Muslims.
Kazem Gharibabadi made the remarks in a post on his Twitter account on Wednesday, following a recent anti-Islam move by a hard-line Swedish politician to burn a copy of the Holy Qur’an in Sweden’s capital of Stockholm.
“The deafening silence of the so-called champions of human rights vis-à-vis the desecration of the Holy Quran is a blatant illustration of incitement to hatred and the proliferation of violence against Muslims,” Gharibabadi wrote.
“Such behaviors have nothing to do with the right to freedom of opinion.”
The deafening silence of the so-called champions of human rights vis-à-vis the desecration of the Holy Quran is a blatant illustration of incitement to hatred & the proliferation of violence against Muslims. Such behaviors have nothing to do with the right to freedom of opinion.
— Gharibabadi (@Gharibabadi) January 25, 2023
Sweden’s right-wing leader Rasmus Paludan on Saturday received permission from his country's government to burn the Holy Qur’an in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. He was being protected by the Swedish police while committing the sacrilege, which has opened the floodgates of protests in the Muslim world.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry vehemently denounced the act of sacrilege in Sweden, saying the move was a blatant example of spreading hatred and violence against Muslims.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Western countries’ support for such acts in the name of freedom of expression is “not acceptable at all.”
Spokesman Nasser Kan'ani also said, the desecration "of the holy book of one and a half billion Muslims is a clear example of hatemongering and the spread of violence against all Muslims around the world. Such actions have nothing to do with freedom of expression and opinion."
Middle East countries also unanimously condemned the desecration of the Holy Qur’an, with Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan, among other Muslim nations, voicing their anger over the act of desecration.
Back in April, Paludan also tried to burn a copy of the Qur’an in a heavily-populated Muslim area.