Two men in Sweden will be put on trial for setting fire to a Quran last year, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The Quran burnings drew outrage in the Muslim world and raised fears of reprisal attacks in Sweden.

Many Muslims see the Quran as the literal word of God and as such, desecrating it represents a grave offense.

But critics have said Sweden, one of the most liberal countries in the world, should treat Quran burnings as a form of free speech protected by law.

Swedish prosecutors, however, said the two men are accused of committing "offenses of agitation against an ethnic or national group." 

"Both men are prosecuted for having on these four occasions made statements and treated the Quran in a manner intended to express contempt for Muslims because of their faith," senior prosecutor Anna Hankkio said in a statement.

This is said to have occurred on four separate occasions, with the men burning Islam's holy book outside a mosque and in other public places, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a statement.

'Protected' under Swedish constitution, lawyer says

One of the men did not comment on the charges, while the other spoke to the Reuters news agency through his lawyer, denying any wrongdoing.

"The permit granted in connection with the demonstration is covered by my client's intent. His rights are protected by the Swedish constitution," the man's lawyer, Mark Safaryan, told Reuters.

The Swedish government has responded to the Quran burnings with condemnation while trying to uphold the country's constitutionally protected freedom of speech and assembly laws.

The tensions over the Quran-burning events caused a strain in relations between Sweden and several Middle Eastern.

In July 2023, Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.

Later in August, Sweden's intelligence service Sapo raised its threat level after the Quran burnings had made the country a "prioritized target" for terror attacks. 

jcg/ab (Reuters, AFP)