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Salwan Momika, Quran burner, shot dead in Sweden

Salwan Momika, the man who outraged Muslim countries by repeatedly burning the Quran in Sweden in 2023, has been shot dead, police confirmed on Thursday, January 30.

A verdict was pending from a Stockholm court in the case of Momika, an Iraqi Christian who had been accused of inciting ethnic hatred by distributing leaflets during several protests. However, the court moved to delay any ruling until February 3 after his death due to “proceedings more time-consuming”.

According to the police, officers were alerted to a shooting incident in Södertälje, where Momika lived. They found a man with gunshot injuries who was taken to the hospital. The police later declared that he had died due to his injuries and launched an investigation into suspected murder.

Swedish police announced the arrest of five suspects in connection with the shooting. “Police arrested five people overnight. Prosecutors have detained them,” the police said in a statement.

The shooting has been reported to have been live-streamed on social media. Several news reports named the victim as Salwan Momika, drawing attention to his controversial background.

In August 2024, Momika was indicted, along with co-protester Salwan Najem, on charges of “agitation against an ethnic group” for incidents over the summer of 2023. The indictment detailed how both men had desecrated the Quran and uttered several defamatory remarks about Islam at demonstrations, including outside a mosque in Stockholm.

Momika’s acts significantly heightened the diplomatic tensions between Sweden and several countries in the Middle East. During the protests, the Swedish authorities, citing freedom of speech, approved the demonstrations. Still, the closeness of the Quran burning incidents to the mosque spurred an investigation of possible incitement against an ethnic group.

Source
Wion News

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