Five people have been arrested after an Iraqi refugee and anti-Islam campaigner was reportedly shot dead in Sweden hours before he was due to receive a court verdict following a trial over burning the Qur’an, police said.
In an attack that the prime minister warned could have been linked to “a foreign power,” Salwan Momika, 38, was reported to have been shot late on Wednesday in a house in the town of Södertälje, near Stockholm. In 2023 Momika outraged many people in Sweden and around the world when he burned copies of the Qur’an in public demonstrations.
A Stockholm court had been due to sentence Momika and another man on Thursday in a criminal trial over “offences of agitation against an ethnic or national group”, but it said the announcement of the verdict had been postponed.
A police spokesperson confirmed that a man had been shot dead in Södertälje, but gave no other details. Police did not say whether the suspected shooter was among those detained.
The other defendant in the court case posted a message on X saying: “I’m next.”
On Thursday the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, told reporters there were fears the killing could have been linked to another country. “I can assure you that the security services are deeply involved because there is obviously a risk that there is a connection to a foreign power,” he said.
The security service said police were leading the investigation but “we are following the development of events closely to see what impact this may have on Swedish security”.
Swedish media reported that Momika was streaming live on TikTok at the time he was shot. A video seen by Reuters showed police picking up a phone and ending a livestream that appeared to be from his TikTok account.
In 2023 Sweden raised its terrorism alert to the second highest level and warned of threats against Swedes at home and abroad after Qur’an burnings, many of them by Momika, angered many Muslims and triggered threats from jihadists.
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While the Swedish government condemned the wave of burnings, it was initially regarded as a protected form of free speech.
Sweden’s migration agency wanted to deport Momika for giving false information on his residency application but could not as it was deemed he could face torture and inhumane treatment in Iraq.
Article by:Source: Reuters in Stockholm
