Edwin Wagensveld, leader of the Islamophobic organization Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA) movement in the Netherlands, desecrates the holy Qur’an in front of the Turkish embassy in The Hague, the Netherlands, on September 23, 2023. (Photo by Anadolu news agency)

The Organization of the Islamic Council (OIC) has condemned the desecration of the Holy Qur’an in the Netherlands, urging the Dutch authorities to stop the provocative, Islamophobic acts.

The statement came on Sunday, a day after Edwin Wagensveld, leader of the Islamophobic organization Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA) movement in the Netherlands, ripped apart a copy of the Holy Qur’an in front of a number of OIC Member States embassies in The Hague.

The Council condemned all attempts to denigrate the sanctity of al-Mus’haf ash-Sharif (Holy Quran) as well as other sacred books, values, and symbols of Islam and other religions under the garb of freedom of expression, which is contrary to the spirit of Articles (19) and (20) of the ICCPR (The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), read the statement.

The OIC also called upon Dutch authorities to take necessary measures against such provocative acts, which constitute acts of religious hatred and are in violation of international law, and to prevent their recurrence.

Wagensveld did the hateful act publicly in front of the Turkish, Pakistani, and Indonesian embassies while insulting Islam and Muslims.

He then tossed pages of the holy book on the ground and demanded the copy he desecrated last month.

He expressed gratitude to the Dutch police for protecting him during the provocative act.

Wagensveld tore the Holy Qur’an in a one-person demonstration in The Hague on January 22 under police protection, and again on February 13 in the city of Utrecht.

Muslim groups gathered at the site, where a demonstration in Rotterdam was planned, and held a counter-demonstration.

PEGIDA’s demonstration was not banned despite the announcement that the group’s members would burn the Qur’an.

On August 18, Wagensveld tore the Holy Qur’an in front of the Turkish embassy in The Hague.