Salwan Momika, an Iraqi immigrant who set off protests in Sweden and several Muslim countries when he burned a Quran in Stockholm in 2023, has been killed, the Swedish Prosecution Authority stated Thursday morning.
The police stated that they’d arrested 5 folks and {that a} homicide investigation had been launched.
Mr. Momika had been set to seem in Stockholm District Courtroom on Thursday morning. He was scheduled to obtain a verdict on prices associated to the Quran burning that prompted worldwide outrage in 2023, and to different demonstrations later that 12 months at which he repeated the act.
The taking pictures passed off late on Wednesday in Sodertalje, a metropolis close to Stockholm.
The authorities didn’t say in the event that they believed the killing was linked to Mr. Momika’s burning of the Quran, however Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s prime minister, stated that the nation’s safety service was wanting into the killing.
“There may be clearly a danger that there’s additionally a reference to a overseas energy,” Mr. Kristersson told reporters. Mr. Momika’s protection legal professional, Anna Roth, stated he had obtained demise threats.
“He was fairly satisfied that he would ultimately be killed,” Ms. Roth stated in a cellphone interview on Thursday.
Mr. Momika had set the Quran ablaze throughout Eid al-Adha, a significant Islamic vacation, outdoors a mosque in Stockholm. He was born and raised a Christian, however later stated he was an atheist, Ms. Roth stated. By burning the Quran, he stated that he was attempting to lift consciousness in regards to the mistreatment and killing of Christian minorities by Islamists in some components of the Muslim world.
“I’m warning the Swedish folks in regards to the risks of this guide,” Mr. Momika had stated via a megaphone outdoors the mosque.
The response from the Muslim world was swift and livid, with a lot of the criticism aimed on the Swedish authorities for not stopping the burning.
In Iraq, a number of hundred folks stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad and set components of it ablaze. Iraq expelled Sweden’s ambassador and directed its ambassador to Sweden to withdraw from its embassy in Stockholm.
Egypt referred to as the Quran burning “a disgraceful act.” And Morocco recalled its ambassador in Sweden, its state news agency reported.
The Swedish authorities had condemned Mr. Momika’s actions on the time, however the police granted a allow for his deliberate demonstration after a Swedish court docket dominated that banning it could impinge on the fitting to freedom of speech.
The allow, nonetheless, didn’t enable him to burn objects, and Mr. Momika was subsequently charged with agitation in opposition to an ethnic or nationwide group in 4 incidents of kicking, stamping on and burning a Quran. He additionally made speeches with derogatory statements directed in opposition to Muslims and Islam, in line with the indictment.
“The truth that statements are made in a big sq. and disseminated is a prerequisite for incitement to racial hatred,” stated Anna Hankkio, a Swedish prosecutor who initially introduced the costs in opposition to Mr. Momika. “It’s as much as the district court docket to evaluate whether or not the burning of the Quran may also be thought-about incitement in opposition to a gaggle of individuals.”
Later that summer time, Mr. Momika once more burned Qurans, in line with the indictment.
The Quran burnings — and the ensuing horror and outrage from the Muslim world — sparked debates in Sweden, which has struggled with whether or not to permit such protests.
Earlier than Mr. Momika burned the holy guide, Swedish authorities had denied different anti-Quran protests, citing issues about disruption to public order. After the burning, Sweden’s overseas ministry referred to as Mr. Momika’s motion Islamophobic, and officers warned that such protests may have an effect on the nation’s nationwide safety coverage. The home safety company briefly raised its terrorism risk to its most extreme designation.
Salwan Najem, who joined Mr. Momika in some protests and was additionally accused of burning a Quran, was a co-defendant within the case that was to be selected Thursday. He’s now set to obtain his verdict on Feb. 3.
On Thursday, Mr. Najem expressed concern, posting a link on X to a narrative about Mr. Momika’s killing.
“I’m subsequent,” he wrote.
