An Iraqi man who orchestrated Quran burnings in Sweden was reportedly shot dead hours before he was supposed to be sentenced on Thursday in a trial over the desecrations of Islam’s sacred book that sparked global outrage, authorities said.
Salwan Momika, an asylum seeker in Sweden and anti-Islam activist, provoked outrage around the Muslim world in 2023 when he burned a copy of the Quran outside a mosque on the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha.
Videos of Quran burnings by a small number of guys in Sweden and Denmark that year sparked a global outcry, prompting condemnation from various Muslim countries and resulting in riots in certain areas.
On Thursday, the Stockholm District Court announced that the verdict in a trial in which Momika was a defendant had been postponed due to the death of one of the defendants.
A judge verified that Momika was shot dead but provided no further information.
Sweden’s state TV said that he was slain in a gunshot in a city near the capital. It stated Momika, 38, arrived in Sweden in 2018 and was later granted a temporary residency permit.
According to Swedish media, Momika’s TikTok account was livestreaming immediately before the shooting.
According to Stockholm police, a guy was found with gunshot wounds on Wednesday night.
The police stated a preliminary murder investigation had been launched, and five persons had been detained, but did not elaborate.
The acts of desecration sparked a divided debate over free speech and respect for religious beliefs, putting the Swedish government at the center of international criticism and damaging relations with some Middle Eastern countries.
Sweden upgraded its terrorism warning level at the time, fearing revenge attacks. Stockholm criticized the 2023 burnings, but Swedish authorities authorized the demonstrations that summer, citing free speech, and charged Momika.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has even linked the Quran burnings to Stockholm’s NATO membership bid, implying that if Swedish officials continue to give licenses for the rallies, the process will be stalled.
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