A violent mob in the Swedish municipality of Ronneby has brutally beaten a man defending a church from being set on fire during a riot.
Naem Sufan, who was injured along with a police officer, said that he saw several rioting youths attempt to attack the church on Saturday night. He said: “I was at the church at 9:50 p.m. and I saw people trying to burn it. There were lots of young people and adults.”
“So I stood in front of the door and said, ‘You can’t do that.’ So I put out the fire with my jacket. Then they started kicking me and beating me up. They tried to get into the church, but they couldn’t open the door,” he told broadcaster Sveriges Radio.
Sufan went on to claim the rioters were angered that he was protecting the church, saying: “They asked, ‘Are you defending the church?’ So they started kicking me, kicking me, until my shoulder — it’s now completely gone. I can’t feel it.”
A migrant himself, Sufan said that he was not happy about the behaviour of other newcomers to Sweden.
“I am completely disappointed when I see immigrants doing this. I’m an immigrant myself. I don’t get it, Sweden has given us everything. They have given us peace. We came from war; we don’t have to create war here,” he said.
The riot and attempted arson of the church in the municipality come just days after a church on the multicultural city of Malmö was vandalised for seven days in a row.
Malmö also saw widespread rioting over the weekend after anti-Islam activists burned a copy of the Quran. At least 300 people gathered, setting vehicles and other objects on fire and throwing rocks at police on Friday night.
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