Three men in the Swedish city of Linköping have been sentenced to prison over their involvement in riots triggered by anti-Islam activists burning the Qur’an. More burnings are now planned.
The three men, 21-year-old Moulham Abo Gamous, 26-year-old Elvedin James Emini, and an unnamed 19-year-old were given sentences of between two and a half and four years for sabotaging police operations during the Easter riots on April 17th.
Moulham Abo Gamous, who was sentenced to four years, was found guilty by the district court of having thrown a large number of stones at police vehicles and police officers on several different occasions, newspaper Expressen reports.
Elvedin James Emini was handed a sentence of three and half years. He was not only throwing stones at police but also a driving force in provoking the crowd into rioting.
The 19-year-old was also convicted for throwing stones at police, as well as kicking police vehicles, and received two and a half years.
The convictions are just the latest in connection with the Easter riots, which took place in several cities in reaction to the burning of copies of the Qur’an by Danish anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan.
Some of those already convicted in connection to the riots turned out to have been immigrants to Sweden and have received deportation orders on top of their sentences.
As a result of the riots, at least a hundred police officers were injured and many others reported mental health problems after the riots as well.
Despite the riots, anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan and his group Stram Kurs have continued to carry out demonstrations in Sweden in which they burn copies of the Qur’an.
The group is currently scheduled to hold a Qur’an-burning event in Karlstad near the only mosque in the area, but police have claimed that the event will be handled in a safe and secure manner.
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