Two Men Sentenced to Six Years in Prison Over Swedish Easter Qur’an Riots

Two cars are burning in a parking lot during rioting in Norrkoping, Sweden on April 17, 20
STEFAN JERREVANG/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

Three men between the ages of 21 and 28 have been sentenced for their activity during the Easter riots in the city of Norrköping earlier this year which followed a burning of the Islamic Qur’an by anti-Islam activists.

The Norrköping District Court sentenced two of the men, aged 21 and 22, to six years in prison each with the younger of the pair being found guilty of two counts of sabotaging police operations during the riots and aggravated assault.

The 22-year-old was also found guilty of two counts of aggravated sabotage of police operations as well as counts of aggravated assault and assault. Both men were also ordered to pay fines to six and five plaintiffs respectively, broadcaster SVT reports.

The oldest defending, the 28-year-old, was sentenced to five years and six months in prison for aggravated violence against a public official as well as one count of aggravated sabotage of police operations. The court rejected the prosecutor’s demand the 28-year-old be deported as the man has a wife and children in Sweden.

The 28-year-old is just one of several migrants who have been convicted in the months since the riots, which took place over several days in cities across Sweden.

The first person to be convicted in connection to the riots was a migrant who took part in the violence in the Stockholm no-go suburb of Rinkeby, assaulting a Swedish police officer on Good Friday. The man also handed out stones to other rioters to attack officers and their vehicles.

In June, four people were convicted over the rioting that took place in the city of Örebro, with two of the four also being sentenced to deportation from Sweden. The men admitted to some of the charges against them during their trials but claimed they had not sabotaged the operations of the police.

The Easter Qur’an riots took place largely in reaction to demonstrations by Danish anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan and his group Stram Kurs (Hard Line) who set copies of the Islamic holy book on fire.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.

 

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.