Man Desecrates Quran to Get Asylum in Sweden
The man went to Sweden from Morocco two years ago on a tourist visa and sought asylum, citing persecution in his home country due to his "religious doubts".
The Swedish Migration Agency, however, rejected his asylum application. The decision was appealed, but the Migration Court of Appeal backed up the authority's line, ruling that it was "reasonable" to demand his return to Morocco as well as expect that he "keeps a low profile and restrains himself in his criticism of Islam and the monarchy in order to avoid provoking actions against him by individuals and authorities".
In response, the man recorded a video of himself burning a copy of the Quran in a barbecue area and uploaded it on YouTube, Sputnik reported.
The man, who describes himself as an ex-Muslim, an atheist, a secularist, a metalhead, and a sceptic, argued that this act of "desecration" was about "defending his right to asylum".
"This can dramatically increase my security concerns even here in Sweden. I have a duty to protect my dignity, safety, and freedom, which is absolutely impossible in a Muslim-majority country like Morocco at this point", he said.
"This also [is] in defiance to the Swedish Migration Authorities that are explicitly discriminating against me because I am an ex-Muslim atheist", he continued.
So far, desecrating the Quran in Scandinavia has been a staple of right-wing anti-Islam organizations, such as Denmark's Hard Line party led by Rasmus Paludan or Stop Islamization of Norway (SIAN), both of which see Quran-burning as a way of executing “freedom of speech”.
