A woman who sprayed an anti-Islam activist with a fire extinguisher after he staged a Quran-burning protest outside the Iranian embassy in Stockholm Friday has been detained, according to several reports.
A video of the incident purports to show a woman, who has been unidentified, running up to Salwan Momika and then doused him with white powder before police officers stopped her and whisked her away, according to a report in Al Jazeera. Momika looked astonished but was uninjured in the incident.
He then resumed the protest, which police authorized.
The woman has since been detained and is charged with suspicion of disturbing public order and violence against a police officer, according to police spokeswoman Towe Hagg.
Momika is an Iraqi refugee who has dishonored and burned Qurans in multiple anti-Islamic demonstrations before. His actions have angered some Muslims, but Swedish police have allowed him to carry out the protests, citing freedom of speech.
“Prosecutors are investigating whether his actions are permissible under Sweden’s hate speech law, which bans incitement of hatred against groups or individuals based on race, religion or sexual orientation,” the report reads. “Momika has said his protests target the religion of Islam, not Muslim people.”
Meanwhile, there are reports that the Quran burnings have caused attacks against some Swedish diplomats on missions in Muslim countries. On Thursday, Sweden raised its terrorism alert to the second highest level, claiming armed groups have since made the country a “priority target.”
Al Jazeera journalists on the ground report that the Quran burnings usually end without incident, although there has been a rising wave of counter-protesters, including some who dress as firefighters chanting “extinguish the hate.”
But Momika has stood his ground, stating that he would continue to burn the Qurans.
“I have freedom of speech,” Swedish news agency TT quoted him as saying.
