Morroco withdrew its ambassador from Stockholm and Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran issued condemnations after the Holy Quran was desecrated in Sweden with court permission.

Around 200 onlookers, many of them Muslims, were present when an Iraqi refugee and his accomplice desecrated the holy book on Wednesday, the first day of Eidul Azha in the country. Aaj News has decided not to depict the vile act, either in visuals or text, though Aljazeera English has provided some of the details.

The police did not stop Salwan Momika, 37, from hurting the sentiments of Muslims. However, he was later charged with agitation against an ethnic or national group, the news agency Reuters reported.

A young Muslim man was arrested when he tried to throw rocks at Momika, according to the news agency.

The authorities allowed the desecration after a court overruled earlier police decisions. The police had rejected multiple applications seeking the desecration of the Muslim holy book.

Momika mocked and dismissed

Salwan Momika says he wants the Holy Quran banned in Sweden.

His act of desecration “was a scene intended to shock and antagonise the Muslim community celebrating the holiday of Eid al-Adha. Instead, the display was largely mocked, dismissed, or ignored by about 200 people gathered outside,” said Aljazeera TV.

“A few people hurled isolated insults at Momika outside the mosque, which is perched on a hill in a trendy, bustling district in the Swedish capital […] Some ridiculing comments drew laughter from the crowd. ‘Speak Swedish’, some shouted, mocking Momika for waving a Swedish flag but seemingly unable to speak the language.”

The TV channel quoted Avsan Mezori, 32, a financial manager as saying, “I feel bad for him [Momika], not for us.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Stockholm Central Mosque Director and Imam Mahmoud Khalfi said the mosque representatives were disappointed by the police decision to allow the ‘protest’.

Pakistan condemns desecration of Holy Quran

Pakistan “strongly condemned” on Thursday the desecration of the Holy Quran outside a mosque in Sweden on the occasion of Eidul Azha.

“Such wilful incitement to discrimination, hatred and violence cannot be justified under pretext of freedom of expression and protest,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

Under international law, it added that states were bound to prohibit any advocacy of religious hatred, leading to incitement of violence.

The recurrence of such Islamophobic incidents during the last few months in the West calls into serious question the legal framework which permits such hate-driven actions, it added.

“We reiterate that the right to freedom of expression and opinion does not provide a license to stoke hatred and sabotage inter-faith harmony,” the statement said.

It added Pakistan’s concerns about the incident were being conveyed to Sweden. “We once again urge that both the international community and the national governments must undertake credible and concrete measures to prevent the rising incidents of xenophobia, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred,” it added.

Holy Quran is a divine book of love: PM Shehbaz

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was “appalled” by the incident, saying that such “vile, despicable and heinous Islamophobic acts” violate international law.

“I have no words to adequately condemn this anti-Islam act, which is clearly meant to hurt the feelings of Muslims around the world. The Holy Quran is a Divine Book of love, peace and wisdom for the entire humanity and the deviant character who indulged in this condemnable act has, in fact, insulted the shared values of humanity,” he tweeted.

Quran is sacred for Muslims: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Quran was sacred for Muslims and the holy book should be sacred for everyone else.

“We know that in other countries they treat it differently — they do not respect people’s religious feelings and then also have the audacity to say that it is not a crime,” Putin said after he was gifted a copy of the Quran during his visit to the Juma Mosque of Derbent in Dagestan.

He added that such acts were a crime in Russia and the country was stuck to such rules. He thanked the mosque administration and said: “It will find its worthy place in the Kremlin.

Morroco withdraws ambassador

Morocco recalled its ambassador to Sweden for an indefinite period in protest, the state news agency reported on Thursday.

Morocco’s Foreign Ministry also summoned Sweden’s charge d’affaires in Rabat and expressed the country’s “strong condemnation of this attack and its rejection of this unacceptable act,” it said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan condemned the act in a tweet.

“I condemn the vile action in #Sweden against our Holy Book, Quran, on the first day of the Eid-al-Adha!,” he said on Twitter.

“It is unacceptable to allow these islamophobe anti-Muslim actions under the pretext of freedom of expression,” he said. “To turn a blind eye to such atrocious acts is to be a partner in crime.”

The ruling party and other leaders in the country also condemned the act.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden, saying that such incidents are a sign of Islamophobia.

In a statement on Thursday, it said the incident had hurt the feelings of Muslims all over the world and that the Swedish government was responsible for the incident.

In a series of tweets, Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said: “It is a provocative, ill-considered & unacceptable act to pave the way for the repeated desecration of divine sanctities, especially at the same time as the holy days of the Islamic Ummah and the gathering of millions of Muslims in the World #Hajj Congress.”

Sweden opens hate crime investigation

An investigation over hate speech was launched in Sweden on Wednesday against the desceration of the Quran, Anadolu Agency reported.

Anadolu correspondent said that the attacker had previously praised the far-right Islamophobe Rasmus Paludan, who carried out the suhc acts, and that had bad views about the religion.

The Swedish police launched a hate speech investigation against the Islamophobe.

US State Department reacts

The US State Department has also reacted to the development.

Burning of religious texts is “disrespectful and hurtful”, the deputy spokesperson for the US State Department told reporters in a daily briefing. “What might be legal is certainly not necessarily appropriate,” Vedant Patel said.

But he continued to urge Turkey and Hungary to ratify the NATO accession protocol of Sweden without delay. “We believe Sweden has fulfilled its commitments under the trilateral memorandum.”

Turkey remains a major obstacle in Sweden’s desire to join the military alliance. The previous “demonstration” involving the desecration of the Holy Quran was held outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm and was organized by right-wing extremists.