Iraqi refugee who burnt Quran in public shot dead in Sweden

Five arrested over killing of Salwan Momika near Stockholm as Prime Minister warns of potential 'foreign involvement'

Five suspects have been arrested over the killing of Salwan Momika in Sweden. EPA

Five people have been arrested after an Iraqi refugee who repeatedly burnt the Quran in public was shot dead in Sweden.

Sweden's Prime Minister suggested "a foreign power" might have been involved in the killing, which took place hours before Salwan Momika, an anti-Islam campaigner, was due to receive a court verdict following a trial over desecrating the Quran. Videos of public Quran burnings attracted worldwide publicity, raising anger and criticism in several Muslim nations and leading to riots and unrest in many places.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters at a press conference: "I can guarantee that the security services are deeply involved in this because there is obviously a risk that there is also a link to foreign power."

Police said they were alerted to a shooting on 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. The suspects were arrested and detained in connection with the incident, Swedish police said on their website. They did not say if the shooter was among those detained.

Police at the scene of a shooting in Sodertalje, near Stockholm, Sweden. EPA

Mr Momika had come to Sweden from Iraq in 2018 and was granted a three-year residency permit in 2021. He burnt copies of the Quran in public demonstrations in 2023 against Islam, arguing that his protests targeted the religion of Islam, not Muslim people. He said he wanted to protect Sweden’s population from the messages of the Quran.

Last March, he was arrested in neighbouring Norway, after saying he would seek asylum there, and was sent back to Sweden.

A court in Stockholm had been due to sentence Mr Momika and his fellow protester Salwan Najem on Thursday in a criminal trial over "offences of agitation against an ethnic or national group", but said the announcement of the verdict had been postponed. A judge at the court, Goran Lundahl, confirmed the deceased was Mr Momika. Mr Najem posted a message on X in the wake of the shooting, saying: "I'm next".

Sweden's 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", a spokesman told Reuters.

Swedish media reported that Mr 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 live stream that appeared to be from Mr Momika's TikTok account.

In 2023 Sweden raised its terrorism alert to the second-highest level possible and warned of threats against Swedes at home and abroad after a string of Quran burnings, many of them by Mr Momika, which outraged Muslims, triggered threats and made the country a "prioritised target".

Relations between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries were strained by the pair's protests. Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July 2023, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.

While the Swedish government condemned the wave of Quran burnings in 2023, it was initially regarded as a protected form of free speech. That same year, Sweden's migration agency wanted to deport Mr Momika for giving false information on his residency application but did not, as he was considered at risk of torture and inhumane treatment in Iraq.

Mr Momika's social media accounts tell a story of an erratic political career in Iraq before he arrived in Sweden. It included links to a Christian armed faction during the fight against the ISIS group, the creation of an obscure Syriac political party, rivalries with influential Christian paramilitaries, and a brief arrest. He also joined the massive anti-corruption protests that gripped Iraq in late 2019, which were met with a crackdown that killed over 600 people nationwide.