Quran Burner Salwan Momika Shot Dead in Sweden, Five Arrested

Momika was reported to have been shot dead on Wednesday evening during a live Facebook broadcast from his Hovsjö apartment, just as the Stockholm District Court was scheduled to announce the verdict in a case of incitement brought against him.

Salwan Momika, the 38-year-old man who held several demonstrations in Sweden and was accused of burning the Quran, was shot dead on Thursday in the city of Södertälje in Stockholm County, in central Sweden.

Momika was reported to have been shot dead on Wednesday evening during a live Facebook broadcast from his Hovsjö apartment, just as the Stockholm District Court was scheduled to announce the verdict in a case of incitement brought against him.

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Five people suspected of murder were arrested, Rasmus Öhman, a prosecutor in Sweden, was quoted by Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

The area was cordoned off on Thursday with several police officers on site. It is said that drones were also deployed over the area.

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"The police have been questioning me and confirmed that he has died," Salwan Najem, a friend of Salwan Momika, told Swedish state broadcaster SVT.

Najem, who said that he had been told "you're next," also spoke during the night with Momika's girlfriend.

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"She began crying and said they killed him," Najem told SVT.

Several countries were up in arms against the desecration of the Quran, including Saudi Arabia. For instance, last week, it condemned the burning of a copy of the Muslim holy book by Momika, an Iraqi, in Malmö, Sweden in October 2023.

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The Saudi Foreign Ministry "reiterated the Kingdom's rejection of such flagrant acts" and stated that such actions had inflamed the feelings of millions of Muslims worldwide.

Momika had allegedly torn pages of the holy book and also burned it in full public view during demonstrations.

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