反イスラム団体とデモ隊が衝突、３人負傷　スウェーデン

【ＡＦＰ＝時事】スウェーデン東部の都市ノルシェピングで１７日、イスラム教の聖典コーランを燃やそうとしていた極右団体に抗議するデモ隊に警官が発砲、３人が負傷した。（写真はスウェーデン東部ノルシェピングの駐車場で燃える２台の車）
　警察は「威嚇射撃を複数回行った。弾が跳ね返って３人が負傷したもようで、現在病院で治療を受けている」と説明した。３人は逮捕されており、容体は不明という。
　スウェーデンでは１４日から各地で反イスラム団体とデモ隊の間で衝突が相次いでおり、ノルシェピングでは２回目の衝突となった。
　最初の衝突は、デンマーク、スウェーデン両国の国籍を持つ政治家ラスムス・パルダン氏（４０）が率いる反移民・反イスラムを掲げる団体「ストラム・クルス（強硬路線）」に対し、デモ隊が抗議したことをきっかけに発生。
　１７日にも、ストラム・クルスとデモ隊が再度衝突。ただパルダン氏は姿を現さなかった。
　パルダン氏は、９月に実施される予定の総選挙に出馬を計画しており、現在、選挙キャンペーンのため国内を回っている。
　同氏はイスラム教徒が多く住む地区を訪れ、コーランを燃やす計画だった。
　パルダン氏は弁護士兼ユーチューバーで、過去に人種差別的な言動をしたとして有罪判決を受けたことがある。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/04/20-09:54）

Swedish police said officers wounded three people Sunday in the eastern city of Norrkoping as demonstrators protested plans by a far-right group to burn copies of the Koran.
Police fired several warning shots. Three people appear to have been hit by ricochets and are currently being treated in hospital, police said in a statement.
The three who were injured were under arrest, police said, adding that their condition was not known.
Sunday's clashes in Norrkoping were the second there in four days.
On the first occasion, the demonstrators had protested against a rally by anti-immigration and anti-Islam group Hard Line, led by the Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan, 40.
On Sunday, they rallied again in protest another gathering, which in the end Paludan abandoned.
Four people were arrested among the approximately 150 participants, as protester threw stones at officers and cars were set on fire, police said.
According to health services quoted by local news agency TT, 10 people were hospitalised with minor injuries following the clashes and similar unrest in the neighbouring town of Linkpping, where far-right Hard Line also abandoned a demonstration.
- Swedish 'tour' -
Paludan, who intends to stand in Swedish legislative elections in September but does not yet have the necessary number of signatures to secure his candidature, is currently on a tour of Sweden.
He is visiting neighbourhoods with large Muslim populations where he wants to burn copies of the Koran.
A lawyer and YouTuber, he has previously been convicted of racist insults.
In 2019, he burned a Koran wrapped in bacon and was blocked for a month by Facebook after a post conflating immigration and crime.
On Saturday, one of his rallies was moved from a district of Landskrona to an isolated car park in southern Malmo, the large neighbouring city, but a car tried to force the protective barriers.
The driver was arrested and Paludan then burned a Koran.
Hard Line's tour has sparked several clashes between the police and counter-protesters across the Scandinavian country in recent days. On Thursday and Friday, around 12 police officers were injured in the clashes.
In the wake of the string of incidents, Iraq's foreign ministry said it had summoned the Swedish charge d'affaires in Baghdad Sunday.
It warned that the affair could have serious repercussions on relations between Sweden and Muslims in general, both Muslim and Arab countries and Muslim communities in Europe.
In November 2020, Paludan was arrested in France and deported.
Five other activists were arrested in Belgium shortly after, accused of wanting to spread hatred by burning a Koran in Brussels.