Man who staged Qur’an burning protests in Sweden shot dead, authorities say

Salwan Momika in Malmö is pictured in southern Sweden in September 2023. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency/AFP/Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource)

Salwan Momika, an Iraqi man who sparked outrage by staging Quran-burning protests in Sweden in 2023, has been shot dead, according to Swedish authorities.

A spokesperson for Sweden’s prosecutor’s office confirmed to CNN that Momika was shot dead in capital city Stockholm on Wednesday.

Stockholm police told CNN that five people had been arrested on Wednesday night on suspicion of murder.

Momika was on Thursday set to be handed a verdict in a trial where he was accused of incitement to racial hatred, Goran Lundahl, a lawyer for Stockholm’s District Court, told CNN. This sentencing has now been postponed.

In 2023, Momika told CNN that he had come to Sweden from Iraq in 2018.

He said he had carried out the demonstrations because he believed the Quran “should be banned in the world because of the danger it causes to democracy, ethics, human values, human rights, and women’s rights. It just doesn’t work in this time and age.”

Swedish authorities had at first attempted to prevent Momika from staging protests by denying him a police permit to demonstrate. This decision was later overturned by Stockholm’s Court of Appeals, citing freedom of speech.

An account on X purporting to be Momika regularly posted updates on his 2025 trial to more than 230,000 followers. The account also regularly posted anti-Islam sentiments.

Earlier this month, the account was asking for donations to go towards a lawyer, who would reportedly help Momika gain asylum in the United States.

A prosecutor will now be in charge of investigating the murder, the Stockholm police spokesperson said.

Security services will also be involved in the investigation, as there is a risk that Momika’s murder could be linked to foreign powers, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a press briefing Thursday, according to public broadcaster SVT.

By Catherine Nicholls, CNN