Riot breaks out in Sweden after ‘anti-Islamic actions’; Swedish town Malmo rocked by stone pelting, violence and vandalism

Sweden witnessed a series of riots on Friday evening as hundreds of Muslims gathered in the southern Swedish town Malmo and unleashed violence.

About 300 people took to the streets of Malmo in Sweden and resorted to stone pelting and vandalism late on Friday, hours after an anti-Muslim Danish politician was blocked from attending a Koran-burning rally nearby.

The riotets threw stones at police and burned tyres in southern Sweden late on Friday, the police said.

The demonstration 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.

Rasmus Paludan, a Danish political leader, was due to travel to Malmo to speak at that event. He was denied entry in Sweden to have a meeting in Malmo, according to some international media reports while others said he was detained ahead of a planned meeting in the town.

“We suspect that he was going to break the law in Sweden,” Calle Persson, spokesman for the police in Malmo told AFP.

“There was also a risk that his behaviour… would pose a threat to society.”

However, his supporters went ahead with the rally, and three people were then arrested for ‘inciting racial hatred’.

Later Paludan took to Facebook and posted a scathing message in response to the action taken by the authorities.

“Sent back and banned from Sweden for two years. However, rapists and murderers are always welcome!” he wrote.

Paludan last year attracted media attention for burning a Koran wrapped in bacon — a meat that is ‘haram’ for Muslims.