Paludan banned from entering UK after Quran-burning campaign in EU
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The UK travel ban comes after Paludan announced plans to burn a copy of the Quran in Yorkshire, where four students were already expelled from a school because they damaged a copy of the Quran.
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Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan burning a copy of the Quran in Denmark in January 2023. (Reuters)
Danish-Swedish politician and provocateur Rasmus Paludan's burning of the Holy Quran has gotten him in hot water and banned him from Sweden and now the UK.
The UK travel ban comes after Paludan announced plans to burn a copy of the Quran in Yorkshire, where four students were already expelled from a school because they damaged a copy of the Quran.
UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat notified the House of Commons of Paludan's ban from entering the UK, after Wakefield MP Simon Lightwood called on Tugendhat for immediate action to prevent further provocations.
Read more: Iranians protest against continued European desecration of Holy Quran
Lightwood labeled Paludan a "dangerous man" and recalled Paludan's prison sentence in Denmark "for his hateful and racist statements" in 2019 as a reference.
'Burn more if you need to'
The leader of the Hard Line party first stirred things up when he burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, at a time when Sweden was waiting for Turkey's approval for its application to enter NATO.
His actions from there on upset Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and provided a boost to Turkey's rejection of Sweden's NATO membership bid. In response, Paludan vowed to burn copies of the Holy book weekly until Sweden is accepted into NATO as a "lesson in free speech" for Erdogan.
As a result, Swedish police have constantly denied Paludan's demonstrations from taking place, which led to tensions among Sweden's political circles on the topic of free speech. His actions led to outrage among Muslim communities around the world, with acts such as burning the Swedish flag taking place.
Sweden Democrat Richard Jomshof has added more fuel to the fire by urging Sweden to burn "a hundred more Qurans".
Turkey warned that relations could become strained with Sweden unless Stockholm takes a "tougher stand against terrorism" and stressed that Stockholm "should not take its NATO bid for granted if it continues to ignore such provocations."
