Salwan Momika, a 38-year-old man who identified as a Iraqi refugee, on Thursday (Jan 30) was shot dead in Stockholm, Sweden. Meanwhile, Swedish media reported that he was killed in a shooting in a nearby city.
The man, who would repeatedly burn the Quran, was being tried for allegedly inciting ethnic hatred by burning the Muslim holy book at a slew of protests in 2023, report said. The killing, which occurred late Wednesday, has led to the arrest of five suspects. Momika had faced global backlash and legal issues, including the revocation of his Swedish residency permit.
The Stockholm District Court said a verdict scheduled Thursday in a trial in which Momika was a defendant was postponed because one of the defendants had died. A judge at the court, Göran Lundahl, confirmed that the deceased was Momika. He said he didn’t have any information on when and how Momika died. Police said they were alerted to a shooting Wednesday night at an apartment building in Sodertalje, near Stockholm, and found a man with gunshot wounds. He later died, and a preliminary murder investigation was opened.
Momika fled to Sweden after facing legal issues in Iraq. In October 2023, Sweden revoked his residency permit, citing false information in his asylum application. Iraq requested his extradition, but Swedish authorities temporarily halted his deportation. Momika later sought asylum in Norway but was deported back to Sweden, where he was granted a one-year permit. Swedish authorities continue their investigation into the shooting while assessing potential security risks linked to the case.
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