Following the recent controversy related to religious protests in his home country of Sweden, world-famous DJ and producer Steve Angello spoke out against Swedish authorities for their decision to grant permission for a public protest to burn Torahs and Bibles outside of the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.
The protest request, filed by a Muslim man who resides in western Sweden, came in response to a Quran-burning outside a Stockholm mosque last month during the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
The Quran-burning sparked outrage in many Muslim countries, triggering a protest outside of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, where people demanded the Iraqi government end diplomatic relations with Sweden.
After word of the Swedish approval to burn Torahs and Bibles reached the public, various entities and individuals quickly condemned the decision, including the World Jewish Congress, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, and now Angello.
The Swedish House Mafia star delivered a heartfelt statement via Instagram yesterday, denouncing the practice of burning religious texts and expressing shame as a Swedish citizen in the wake of the controversy.
“I am born and raised in Sweden and was brought up knowing what respect means, and I was taught at an early age that you show people the respect you want people to show you,” Angello wrote.
The decision to permit the protest was made in accordance with the country’s constitutional right to freedom of speech, Swedish police told CNN.
The protest went ahead on Saturday, but no books were burned. The Times of Israel reported that the man who filed the permit was holding a copy of the Quran and explained that it was never his intention to burn holy books.
Read Angello’s full statement below.
Featured image from Steve Angello. Credit: Hannes Söderlund.
