A man who ignited violent protests after burning the Quran has been shot dead in Sweden, local media report.
Salwan Momika, 38, was reportedly killed in an apartment in Södertälje, Stockholm, on Wednesday evening.
Unrest erupted in 2023 when Mr Momika set fire to a copy of Islam’s holy book outside Stockholm Central Mosque.
His actions provoked condemnation from Muslim-majority countries, with protests at the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador amid a diplomatic dispute.
Local media reported that Mr Momika had been livestreaming on social media around the time of the shooting. The Stockholm District Court, which had been due to deliver a verdict on Thursday regarding charges against him, announced a postponement after confirming his death.
Mr Momika had been charged in August 2023, alongside another individual, with “agitation against an ethnic group” on four occasions that summer.
Mr Momika, an Iraqi living in Sweden, had carried out several anti-Islam protests, prompting Sweden to reconsider its laws on burning religious texts.
While police had initially permitted his protest under free-speech laws, the government later pledged to explore legal avenues to restrict such demonstrations in certain circumstances.
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