A man who triggered violent protests by burning the Quran has been shot dead in Sweden, local media reports say. Salwan Momika, 38, was reportedly killed in an apartment in Södertälje, near Stockholm, on Wednesday evening.
Momika, an Iraqi living in Sweden, sparked widespread unrest in 2023 when he set fire to a copy of the Quran outside Stockholm Central Mosque. Following the incident, violent protests erupted, and the Swedish embassy in Baghdad was targeted twice, with the Swedish ambassador eventually expelled amid a diplomatic dispute.
Stockholm police confirmed the death of a man in his 40s and reported the arrest of five people in connection with the shooting. Local media stated that Momika had been livestreaming on social media just before he was shot.
Momika had faced charges in August 2023 for “agitation against an ethnic group” after holding multiple anti-Islam protests. A verdict on the charges was scheduled for Thursday but was postponed due to his death.
Swedish authorities had granted Momika permission to burn the Quran under the country’s free-speech laws, though the government has since discussed legal measures to potentially limit such protests in the future.
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