Anti-Islam activist Salwan Momika Photo: X/@ConflictTR Anti-Islam activist Salwan Momika Photo: X/@ConflictTR

Salwan Momika, an Iraqi anti-Islam activist who burnt the Quran in 2023 in Sweden, sparking massive outrage in Muslim countries, has been shot dead in Sweden, the Associated Press reported on Thursday citing Swedish broadcaster SVT.

It has been reported that the police forces were alerted to a shooting in the city of Sodertalje, where Momika reportedly lived. The shooting occurred indoors and when police arrived they found a man who had been "hit by shots and the man was taken to hospital", the statement said.

The Stockholm District Court in 2023 charged Salwan Momika and a co-defendant, Salwan Najem, with incitement to racial hatred because of statements they made in connection with the Quran burnings. The court was due to rule on Momika to decide whether he was guilty of inciting ethnic hatred.  However, following his death, the ruling was postponed until February 3.

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Iraqi Protests Erupt In Response To Quran Burning In Sweden: Clashes With Security Forces

BY Outlook Web Desk

kaboom slots 2023 Quran Burning In Sweden

The Quran burning in Sweden in 2023 sparked massive outrage and condemnation from various countries and organizations around the world. Governments in Asia and the Middle East publicly denounced the act.  The burnings also led to Sweden's strained relations with the West Asian countries.

Back in June 2023, a video emerged on social media where 38-year-old Salwan Momika was captured stepping on a copy of the Quran and setting it on fire outside Stockholm’s largest mosque. Due to the outrageous act of burning a religious text that led to riots and unrest in many places, Swedish prosecutors charged Momika and Najem , with “offences of agitation against an ethnic or national group.”

The prosecutors also mentioned that besides burning the Quran, the two accused also made derogatory remarks about Muslims.

Defending the act, Momika said he wanted to protest against Islam as an institution and called for banning its holy book. 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.

Global Outrage And Diplomatic Tensions Rise After Quran Burning In Sweden

BY Outlook Web Desk

Sweden Termed Quran Burning 'Islamophobic'

The Swedish government in 2023 condemned the Quran burning as an "Islamophobic" act and a clear provocation.

While acknowledging the right to freedom of assembly, expression, and demonstration protected by the Swedish constitution, the government emphasized that expressions of racism, xenophobia, and intolerance have no place in Sweden or Europe.

However, a complete ban on desecrating holy scriptures would require the reintroduction of a law that was abolished in the 1970s.

Who Was Salwan Momika?

Back in 2023, the images and videos which emerged on social media, showed him as a militia leader in Iraq. The state broadcaster said Momika came to Sweden from Iraq in 2018 and was granted a three-year residence permit in 2021.

According to an India Today report, he described himself as the head of a Christian militia in a video. His group was part of the Imam Ali Brigades, an organisation formed in 2014 and accused of war crimes, according to France24.

The Imam Ali Brigades operates under the Popular Mobilisation Forces, a network of groupsjpwinner gaming, some of which have been integrated into the Iraqi army to fight the Islamic State.