Swedish university refuses Vilks event after Denmark attacks

Swedish university refuses Vilks event after Denmark attacks
Updated on

Summary It was going to be a lecture by an artist who caricatured Prophet Muhammad

STOCKHOLM: (AP) - A Swedish university has declined to host a lecture by an artist who caricatured the Prophet Muhammad after a gunman attacked a similar event in Copenhagen.

Karlstad University spokesman Joachim Gustafssson says the event with Lars Vilks was turned down because "we cannot guarantee security."

A local foreign policy association had invited Vilks to talk on March 17 about freedom of expression following the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris.

On Feb. 14, a similar event in Copenhagen that Vilks attended was attacked by a gunman who also opened fire outside a synagogue. Two people died and five were wounded in the attacks.

Organizer Paula Holst called the university s decision "a victory for extremism and terrorism," but said she believed the event would go ahead at another venue in Karlstad.

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