A man who ignited violent protests by burning the Quran has been shot and killed in Sweden, according to local media reports.
Salwan Momika, 38, was reportedly killed in an apartment in Södertälje, Stockholm, on Wednesday evening.
The unrest began after Mr. Momika set fire to a copy of Islam’s holy book outside the Stockholm Central Mosque in 2023.
Stockholm police confirmed in a statement that five people were arrested after a man in his 40s was shot dead overnight.
Local media outlets reported that Mr. Momika had been livestreaming on social media at the time of the shooting.
An Iraqi national residing in Sweden, Mr. Momika was charged in August along with another individual for “agitation against an ethnic group” in connection with four incidents in the summer of 2023.
The court’s verdict, initially set for Thursday, was postponed after it was “confirmed that one of the defendants had died,” according to the Stockholm District Court.
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Mr. Momika had staged a series of anti-Islam protests, sparking outrage across several Muslim-majority countries.
Protests occurred outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice, and the Swedish ambassador was expelled amid a diplomatic dispute.
Swedish authorities had granted Mr. Momika permission for the protest where he burned the Quran, citing the country’s free speech laws.
However, the government later expressed intentions to explore legal avenues for banning such protests in certain circumstances.
(BBC)
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