Sweden arrests five over planning ‘terrorist act’ tied to Quran burning in January

Sweden’s police security service said on Tuesday it had detained five men on suspicion of conspiracy to commit terrorist crimes, after “international calls for attacks” that followed a Quran-burning protest in Stockholm.

The burning of a copy of the Quran in Stockholm by a far-right activist in January caused outrage in parts of the Muslim world and damaged Sweden’s bid to join NATO, after Turkey paused negotiations.

The five men were detained during coordinated raids in three cities on Tuesday morning. The suspects are believed to have international links to violent extremism, the Security Service said. It did not identify the suspects.

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“The current case is one of several that the Security Police has worked on after the protests that were directed at Sweden in connection with the highly publicized burning of the Quran in January,” the security service said in a statement.

Susanna Trehorning, a deputy counter-terrorism chief at the security service, said international calls for attacks followed the protest.

In a separate statement the Swedish Prosecution Authority said that a prosecutor has until Friday to decide if the men are to remain in custody.

Since the protest, Swedish police have denied permission to several demonstrations where the Quran was to be burned.

However, a Swedish court ruled on Tuesday that such protests are protected by the Swedish constitution.

Turkey has said it will not ratify Sweden’s NATO application as long as Quran burnings are permitted.

The police security service is a unit focused on national security threats, counter-intelligence and protection of high-ranking targets.

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