Five people have been detained in connection with the murder of Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee who burned a Quran in Sweden in 2023 to spark riots across the country. Momika was shot dead, aged 38, in a city near Stockholm on Thursday, a day when a court was expected to give its verdict on a case related to the controversial burning of the sacred book.
The Swedish District Court confirmed that the verdict, originally scheduled for Thursday, was postponed following the death of one of the defendants involved. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson suggested the possibility that the attack on Momika might be linked to a foreign power, emphasizing that Sweden’s security services were heavily involved in investigating the incident.
Local media report to have witnessed a moment in live-streaming during his killing and might be online through social networks. Momika arrived in Sweden in 2018. After all these allegations against the religious book Quran due to its radical content, many had termed this action against its distribution, however, Momika insisted on criticizing the religion instead of its population and was making it clear for people to learn about their responsibility in safeguarding Sweden’s populations from messages preached in Quran.
The Swedish police had allowed his demonstrations but filed charges of incitement to hatred against him. Momika was arrested for a short period in Norway in March after announcing plans to apply for asylum there, but was then sent back to Sweden.
In August, Momika and a co-defendant faced charges over inflammatory actions taken with regard to Quran burnings. The verdict in these charges was expected to be delivered just hours before his death.