STOCKHOLM: Swedish police said they have granted a permit for a protest where the organizer plans to burn a Qur'an outside Stockholm’s main mosque on Wednesday, the start of the Muslim three-day Eid Al-Adha holiday. The police said in the written decision that the security risks associated with the burning “were not of a nature that could justify, under current laws, a decision to reject the request.” The green light came two weeks after a Swedish appeals court rejected the police’s decision to deny permits for two demonstrations in Stockholm which were to include Qur'an burnings.
I’m always a bit torn in situations like these. Sure, Sweden makes the right choice by guaranteeing free speech even when it’s inconvenient.
But the people actually burning the book are complete asshats and specifically doing it to be complete asshats towards others. They know it’s going to result in a lot of anger, and do it precisely for that reason.