By Atila Altuntas
STOCKHOLM (AA):- Attacks on mosques and Muslim gatherings increased by 10 times in 2017 in Sweden compared to previous year, according to a new report.
The Uppsala University report by Mattias Gardell said 38 mosques or Muslim assemblies had come under attack in Sweden in 2017.
Max Stockholm from the Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities, who financed the report, told Swedish TV SVT the attacks on mosques and Muslim assemblies is a threat on freedom of religion, which is established in the Swedish constitutional law.
“We are concerned over the attacks against Muslims and Jews,” he added.
Survey were sent to 173 Islamic congregations in Sweden, of which 106 replied. Well over half (59 percent) said they had been subjected to some kind of physical attack.
38 of the congregations said they suffered physical attacks during 2017, with some being subjected to them on several occasions. Types of attack included fires or attempts to start fires, stone throwing, property damage and graffiti.
Earlier this year the imam at Stockholm’s central mosque explained that the building was targeted 22 times by vandals in 2017, while swastikas were spray-painted on the facade last January.
Additional report by The Muslim News
[Archive photo: Sodermalm mosque in Stockholm, Sweden, vandalised with Nazi graffiti and racist words on 22 January 2018/AA]
