Man who burned Quran reportedly shot dead in Sweden
A man who burnt the Quran, an incident which sparked violent protests, was reportedly shot dead in Sweden.
According to media reports, Salwan Momika, 38, was reportedly killed in an apartment in Södertälje, Stockholm, yesterday evening.
In 2023, Momika set fire to a copy of the holy book outside Stockholm Central Mosque, leading to an unrest from locals.
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After his death, Stockholm police stated five people were arrested.
Local media reported that Momika had been livestreaming on social media around the time he was shot, reports BBC.
Momika, an Iraqi living in Sweden, was charged in August alongside one other with "agitation against an ethnic group" on four occasions in the summer of 2023.
The verdict, due to be delivered on Thursday, was postponed after it was "confirmed that one of the defendants had died", Stockholm District Court said.
Momika carried out a series of anti-Islam protests, sparking outrage in many Muslim-majority countries.
Unrest took place at the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice, while the Swedish ambassador was expelled from the city amid a diplomatic row.
Swedish police had given Momika permission for the protest in which he burnt the holy book, in accordance with the country's free-speech laws.
The Swedish government later pledged to explore legal means of abolishing protests that involve burning texts in certain circumstances.
