A man who burnt the Quran several times in 2023 in Sweden, provoking Muslim countries, has been killed, media reported on Thursday, as police confirmed a fatal shooting the day before.
A Stockholm court was to on Thursday deliver judgement if Salwan Momika, a Christian Iraqi who burned Qurans at multiple protests, was guilty of inciting ethnic hatred.
The ruling was shifted to February 3, as the court said: “Because Salwan Momika has died, more time is needed.”
Police said they had been informed about a shooting in Södertälje, where Momika lived.
The shooting occurred indoors, and when police arrived, they found a man who had been “hit by shots and was taken to hospital,” the statement said.
In a later update, police confirmed the man’s death and announced a murder investigation.
Several media outlets identified the deceased as Momika and reported that the shooting may have been broadcast live on social media.
In August, Momika and co-protester Salwan Najem, were accused of “agitation against an ethnic group” four times in 2023.
The charge sheet said the duo desecrated the Quran, including burning it, while making derogatory remarks about Muslims—on one occasion outside a Stockholm mosque.
Relations between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries were strained by the protesters’ activities.
Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July 2023, setting fires within the compound on the second occasion.
In August of that year, Sweden’s intelligence service, Säpo, raised its threat level to four on a scale of five after the Quran burnings made the country a “prioritised target.”
The Swedish government condemned the desecrations while highlighting the country’s constitutionally protected freedom of speech and assembly laws.
In October 2023, a Swedish court convicted a man of inciting ethnic hatred with a 2020 Quran burning—the first time the country’s courts had tried the charge of desecrating Islam’s holy book.
Prosecutors have previously stated that under Swedish law, burning a Quran can be considered a critique of the book and the religion, making it protected under free speech.
However, depending on the context and statements made at the time, it can also be deemed “agitation against an ethnic group.”
AFP
