Salwan Momika, who is notorious for publicly burning copies of the Holy Quran, was shot dead in his apartment in Sweden last night during a TikTok live, state media has reported.
The Iraqi Christian, 38, was found dead at his address in the city of Sodertalje, public broadcaster SVT reported.
A man was found shot in an apartment and he was rushed to the hospital, a spokesman for the Stockholm police said. Later, the police confirmed that the man had died and that they had launched an investigation into the murder.
So far five suspects have been arrested. All are being treated as murder suspects.
Quran burner Momika had been live-streaming on Tiktok and was allegedly shot dead in the middle of it.
According to information provided to Swedish press, one of the theories the police are investigating is that the perpetrator may have entered Momika’s home via the roof of the apartment building.
“We are searching the inside and outside of the house,” said Daniel Wikdahl, press spokesman for the Stockholm police during the night.
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Who was Salman Momika?
Momika, an asylum seeker, became infamous in 2023 after sparking global protests over his repeated desecrations of the Islamic holy book, the Quran.
Momika was granted a residence permit in 2021 and used his new location to turn Sweden into a hotspot for anti-Islam hate speech.
His protests centred on burning copies of the Quran and other images associated with Muslim countries.
His protests would normally take place in areas with a significant Muslim presence or outside embassy buildings of Muslim majority countries like Iran, Egypt or Turkiye.
Last year, Momika, along with another activist Salwan Najem, was formally charged with “offences of agitation against an ethnic or national group” four separate times for acts which they committed in the summer of 2023.
The Swedish Migration Agency revoked Momika’s residency permit, citing false information in his original application.
Then Momika, who had been living in Sweden since 2018, left for Norway on March 27 last year but was arrested and deported back to Sweden.
During 2024, Momika expressed support of Israel multiple times at similar Islamophobic demos, burning Palestinian flag pictures and defending Israel amid widespread anger over Israel’s crimes in Gaza.
Furious Muslim protests
The burning of Quran copies in Sweden and Denmark under the pretext of free speech has sparked a backlash in Muslim countries, including attacks on diplomatic missions.
After Momika began going viral for his desecration demonstrations in 2023, massive protests occured across the Muslim world with Sweden coming under intense pressure.
Protesters demanded sanctions on Sweden and Denmark, Turkiye stalled Swedish efforts to enter into the NATO alliance and a host of Muslim countries publicly condemned Sweden for permitting the offensive hate speech.
The incident sparked a major debate in Europe about the concept of free speech and divided politicians across the European bloc regarding the right to offend and the limits of hate speech.
Following protests in the Muslim world, Denmark passed legislation in December making it illegal to burn copies of the Quran in public places.
More to follow…
