Iraqi refugee who burnt Quran in public shot dead in Sweden | The National

[iceblade02@lemmy.world]

[The following text is partly based on the linked article, and partly on other linked articles in Swedish.]

Salwan Momika has been assassinated on his balcony in Södertälje, Sweden, during a livestream. He was shot dead with five bullets, of which four were to the head (according to unverified sources), near midnight on the 29th of January, the night before his court verdict for alleged incitement was to be delivered. The verdict of his companion Salwan Najem has been postponed until February 3rd.

Salwan was an Iraqi refugee and controversial critic of islam living in Sweden on political asylum, due to a risk of torture should he ever return to his home country. He became known after repeatedly burning quran books during the Swedish NATO application process.

This developed into an international diplomatic crisis when muslims and islamic nations worldwide responded with outrage and threats, the Iraqi government demanding his extradition. The Swedish embassy in Baghdad was also violently stormed twice and set on fire.

Salwan himself was after this targeted with both a fatwa by Al-Qaeda and a price of two million USD in addition to a quran made with two kilos of gold was put on his head by the city of al-Kufa in Iraq.

Swedish police have not yet commented on the motive for the killing of Salwan, but SÄPO (Swedish security police) is following the investigation closely. Five people have thus far been arrested. According to Swedish Minister of State Ulf Kristersson it is too soon to say how this affects the security situation (original quote in Swedish):

"It largely depends on what the police and the Security Service conclude is behind this. I can guarantee that the security services are deeply involved in this, as there is clearly a risk that there may also be connections to foreign powers."