A man who gained notoriety for repeatedly burning the Quran in Sweden in 2023, sparking widespread outrage in Muslim nations, has reportedly been shot dead on Thursday, as reported by to AFP.
The report quoting the police said that a shooting took place the previous day resulting in a fatality.
A Stockholm court had been scheduled to deliver a verdict on Thursday in the case of Salwan Momika, an Iraqi Christian who participated in numerous Quran-burning protests, facing charges of inciting ethnic hatred. However, the court postponed the ruling until February 3, citing the death of Salwan Momika as necessitating additional time.
Authorities stated that they responded to a shooting incident in Sodertalje, where Momika resided. Upon arrival, police discovered a man who had sustained gunshot wounds and was transported to a hospital. Subsequently, the man succumbed to his injuries, prompting a murder investigation.
Various media outlets have identified the deceased person as Momika, noting that the shooting may have been livestreamed on social media platforms. Earlier in August, Momika and fellow protester Salwan Najem were charged multiple times with “agitation against an ethnic group” during the summer of 2023 for desecrating the Quran, including burning it, and making derogatory remarks about Muslims, notably outside a mosque in Stockholm.
In July 2023, Iraqi demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on two occasions, causing fires within the compound during the second protest. Following the Quran burnings, Sweden’s intelligence service, Sapo, raised the country’s threat level to four out of five, considering it a “prioritised target”.