An Iraqi man who carried out several Quran burnings in Sweden has been killed

STOCKHOLM (AP) — An Iraqi man who carried out several Quran burnings in Sweden has died, a judge in Stockholm said Thursday. Swedish media reported that he was killed in a shooting in a nearby city.

Salwan Momika, 38, staged several burnings and desecrations of Islam’s holy book in Sweden in 2023. Videos of the Quran burnings got worldwide publicity and raised anger and criticism in several Muslim nations, leading to riots and unrest in many places.

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.

Broadcaster SVT reported, without naming sources, that the victim was Momika. It said Momika came to Sweden from Iraq in 2018 and was granted a three-year residence permit in 2021.

Prosecutor Rasmus Öman told Swedish news agency TT that several people had been arrested in the case. He did not elaborate.

Momika argued that his protests targeted the religion of Islam, not Muslim people. He argued that he wanted to protect Sweden’s population from the messages of the Quran. Swedish police allowed his demonstrations, citing freedom of speech, while filing charges against him.

Last March, he was arrested in neighboring Norway, after stating that he would seek asylum there, and was sent back to Sweden, TT reported.

Momika and a co-defendant were charged in August with incitement to hatred because of statements they made in connection with the Quran burnings. A verdict was supposed to be handed down on Thursday morning.