Police in Swedish Municipality Refuse to Consult Public on Islamic Call to Prayer Broadcast

Police in the Swedish municipality of Karlskrona are expected to grant the local Islamic association the right to broadcast the call to prayer in public and are refusing to consult local residents on the decision because it would be too much hard work.

The Islamic Cultural Association in Karlskrona expects to receive a positive decision from the local police early next week on whether they will be allowed to continue to broadcast the call to prayer, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.

The request, which was passed on to the police following a referral by the environment and social committee, would see the call to prayer be broadcast from the minarets of the Kungsmarken mosque, one of the largest in the country.

The mosque had previously begun to issue the call to prayer in November 2017, but shortly after it had emerged the Muslim association had not applied for the correct licencing and so the call to prayer was temporarily stopped.

The decision will come only weeks after the Islamic Association in the town of Växjö was granted the ability to publicly broadcast the call to prayer every Friday in the early afternoon by police and the local government.

The move was even celebrated by local Church of Sweden Archbishop Fredrik Modeus who called it a “well thought-out decision”.

Commenting on the case, Magnus Rothoff, Group Manager at Police Criminal Unit, said: “I do not want to anticipate the formal process, but in principle, the same conditions apply in Karlskrona that formed the basis of our decision in Växjö.”

“It is the same legislation, an identical opinion from the municipality, and about the same local regulations. Therefore, I can not see that we can land in a different conclusion this time,” he added.

The municipal government also asked the police to consult with local residents who may be affected by the prayer call but the police refused with Rothoff saying: “In part, we do not have a legal reason to do that. It is a very resource-intensive operation and would it delay the handling of the case.”