Quran burning activist Salwan Momika found dead in Sweden

Swedish police have confirmed the killing of Iraqi refugee and anti-Islam activist Salwan Momika in a single day on Wednesday.

Momika, who was in his 40s and have become well-known for his common Quran-burning occasions, was shot lifeless in line with Stockholm police.

“5 individuals have been arrested in a single day in reference to the homicide incident,” Anna Westberg from Stockholm police’s media centre informed Center East Eye.

“The police acquired the alarm at 11:11 pm. A prosecutor has been assigned to the case, and the police are cooperating with them within the ongoing investigation,” Westberg added.

Broadly circulated movies of his occasions had brought on widespread anger in his native Iraq, resulting in a diplomatic spat between Baghdad and Stockholm.

Whereas critics condemned Momika’s Quran-burning occasions as incitement, the slain activist defended them as acts of free expression.

Momika’s latest posts on social media platform X included anti-Muslim memes, help for Israel’s army marketing campaign in Gaza and requires donations for his authorized defence in an incitement case he confronted in Sweden.

“At the moment the second session of my trial in Stockholm will start on the cost of incitement introduced towards me by the general public prosecutor due to my criticism of Islam. You possibly can help me and assist me get monetary savings to pay the lawyer’s charges,” Momika posted on X on 16 January.

A proponent of ending Muslim migration into Europe, Momika was a controversial determine amongst Iraqis within the diaspora.

Najlaa Jassim, a 40-year-old Iraqi lady residing in Istanbul, informed MEE: “First, I’m towards killing individuals, and the Quran is a sacred heavenly ebook that can not be touched. I’m towards attacking religions.”

Talking on Momika’s activism, Hasan Aqeel, a 20-year-old from Basra, mentioned: “What’s the level of appearing on private emotions if it harms your self earlier than anybody else?”

The killing is prone to heighten tensions between European governments and ascendent anti-immigrant actions that additionally oppose Muslim migration into Europe.