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Koran Burning Refugee Killed In Sweden

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

STOCKHOLM (Worthy News) – Sweden says it has detained five people over the killing of an Iraqi refugee who sparked outrage among Muslims by burning the Koran in protest in Sweden in 2023.

The Swedish prime minister suggested Thursday that “a foreign power” might have been involved in murdering Salwan Momika after he was shot dead near Stockholm, Sweden’s capital.

“I can assure you that the security services are deeply involved because there is obviously a risk that there is a connection to a foreign power,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters.

The 38-year-old Momika was shot late on Wednesday in a house in the town of Södertälje, close to Stockholm, according to investigators.

A Stockholm court dismissed the case against Momika after his death. The trial was prompted by anger over him burning copies of the Koran, deemed a holy book by Muslims.

Momika’s defense attorney, Anna Roth, said he had received death threats.

“He was quite convinced that he would sooner or later be killed,” Roth told reporters.

CONCERNS ABOUT CHRISTIANS

Momika, who was born and raised a Christian but later said he was an atheist, had set the Koran ablaze during Eid al-Adha, a prominent Islamic holiday, outside a mosque in Stockholm.

By burning the Koran, also spelled as the Quran, he said he was trying to raise awareness about the mistreatment and killing of Christian minorities by Islamists in parts of the Muslim world. “I am warning the Swedish people about the dangers of this book,” Momika had said through a megaphone outside the mosque. His actions came amid concerns about the widely documented mistreatment and even killing or imprisonment of minority Christians in several Islamic countries.

However, the response from the Muslim world was swift and furious, with much of the criticism aimed at the Swedish authorities for not stopping the burning. Turkey even threatened to block Sweden’s entry into the NATO military alliance for allowing the burning of the Koran.

In Iraq, several hundred people stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad and set parts of it ablaze. Iraq expelled Sweden’s ambassador and directed its ambassador to Sweden to withdraw from its embassy in Stockholm.

Egypt called the Koran burning “a disgraceful act.” And Morocco reportedly recalled its ambassador in Sweden.

While Swedish authorities condemned Momika’s actions at the time, the Nordic nation had a strong tradition of allowing people to express themselves freely.

Police granted him a permit for his planned demonstration after a Swedish court ruled that banning it would “impinge” his right to freedom of speech.

MOMIKA FACING PROSECUTION

Critics said the permit did not allow him to burn objects.

Under pressure from the growing group of Muslims in the country, Momika was charged with “agitation against an ethnic or national group” in four incidents of kicking, stamping on, and burning a Koran.

He also made speeches with alleged derogatory statements directed against Muslims and Islam, according to the indictment.

“The fact that statements are made in a large square and disseminated is a prerequisite for incitement to racial hatred,” said Anna Hankkio, a Swedish prosecutor who initially brought the charges against Momika. “It is up to the district court to assess whether the burning of the Koran can also be considered incitement against a group of people.”

Later that summer, Momika again burned Korans, according to the indictment.

Yet this week’s shooting underscored broader concerns among religious rights advocates that it has become dangerous to openly protest against Islam or the Koran in even Western nations such as Sweden. Among others targeted by angry Muslims have been cartoonists and authors.