A local politician from the far-right Sweden Democrats argued during an election debate on Thursday that Muslims shouldn't be allowed to practice their faith in Strömsund in northwestern Sweden. “I don’t think someone should be allowed to be a practicing Muslim in Strömsund,” Sweden Democrat Mikael Säbom said on Thursday during a live election debate broadcast on Sveriges Radio Jämtland.
Since 2006, the town of just over 4,000 residents has taken in scores of Muslims from Uzbekistan in the wake of a 2005 crackdown by Uzbek government troops in Andijan in which hundreds of protesters were killed, although the exact number of casualties remains in dispute.
At the time of the incident, known as the Andijan massacre, the Uzbek government claimed the demonstrations were organized by the Islamic radicals. Strömsund has seen a rise in hate crimes, from racist graffiti to the burning down of a mosque in the city two years ago. [The Local] Read more [via Islam in Europe]
