Investigators stated Thursday that an Iraqi immigrant in Sweden was shot dead south of Stockholm after burning the Quran many times in 2023, causing indignation in Muslim nations.
Sweden’s prime minister said that “a foreign power” may have been involved.
Five persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of Salwan Momika, 38, according to prosecutor Rasmus Oman, who confirmed this to AFP.
“We’re in the very early stages… there’s a lot of information gathering. Five people have been detained suspected of involvement in the crime,” Oman said.
During a press conference, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson informed reporters that, “I can guarantee that the security services are deeply involved in this because there is obviously a risk that there is also a link to foreign power.”
A Stockholm court was supposed to decide on Thursday whether Momika, a Christian Iraqi, was guilty of inciting ethnic hatred, but it said that because of his passing, it has delayed its decision until February 3.A call regarding a gunshot in Momika’s apartment building in the city of Sodertalje was received by police late on Wednesday.
According to a police statement, they discovered a male who had been shot and had subsequently passed away in the hospital.
The shooting may have been streamed live on social media, according to a number of media sites.
The attacker entered the building through the roof, according to the Aftonbladet newspaper.
Momika and fellow protester Salwan Najem were charged in August with four counts of “agitation against an ethnic group” during the summer of 2023.
The charge sheet stated that the two burned the Koran and made disparaging remarks about Muslims, including outside a mosque in Stockholm.
Following Momika’s passing, Najem told Swedish media that he had received death threats and commented on X, “I’m next on the list.”
The pair’s protests caused tensions between Sweden and a number of Middle Eastern nations.
In July 2023, Iraqi demonstrators twice overran the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, setting fire to the compound on the second occasion.
After the Koran burnings turned Sweden into a “prioritized target,” the country’s intelligence agency, Sapo, increased its danger level to four on a five-point scale in August of that year.
While highlighting the nation’s constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of expression and assembly, the Swedish government denounced the desecrations.
Momika told Aftonbladet in April 2023 that he never meant for his Koran burnings to cause trouble in Sweden, where he had lived since 2018. He said, “I don’t want to harm this country that received me and preserved my dignity.”
The Swedish Migration Agency revoked his residency permit in October 2023, citing false information in his original application, but granted him a temporary one because it stated that there was a “impediment to enforcement” of a deportation to Iraq, where Iraq had demanded his extradition the previous month.
Momika, who told AFP that Sweden’s protection of human rights and freedom of speech was “a big lie,” departed Sweden in March 2024 to apply for asylum in Norway.
He was sent back to Sweden by Norway a few weeks later.
Prior to coming to Sweden, Momika’s social media profiles depict a turbulent political career in Iraq.
During the conflict with the Islamic State group, it involved ties to a Christian armed group, the formation of a small Syriac political party, conflicts with powerful Christian paramilitaries, and a temporary imprisonment.
Additionally, he participated in the widespread anti-corruption demonstrations that swept through Iraq in late 2019, leading to a crackdown that claimed over 600 lives across the country.
The first time the Swedish legal system tried the accusation of desecrating Islam’s sacred text, another man was found guilty in October 2023 of inciting ethnic hatred by burning a 2020 Koran.
Prosecutors have previously stated that burning a Koran can be considered a criticism of the book and religion under Swedish law, and as such, it is permitted by free speech.
However, it may also be regarded as “agitation against an ethnic group,” depending on the circumstances and remarks made at the time.