An anti-Islam campaigner has been shot dead, just hours before he was due to receive a court verdict following a trial over burning a copy of the Koran.
Salwan Momika, 38, was shot in a house in the town of Sodertalje near Stockholm, local media reported, citing unnamed police sources.
The Iraqi refugee had gained notoriety for filming himself burning copies of the Koran, which received worldwide publicity and raised anger and criticism in several Muslim nations, leading to riots and unrest in many places.
A court in Stockholm had been due to sentence Momika and another man in a criminal trial over "offences of agitation against an ethnic or national group," but said the announcement of the verdict had been postponed.
Salwan Momika has reportedly been shot dead
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Momika, who repeatedly burnt the Koran in 2023 in Sweden
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A Security Service spokesman told reporters: "We are following the development of events closely to see what impact this may have on Swedish security."
Police confirmed that a man was shot dead in Sodertalje around 10pm GMT but did not comment further.
The other defendant in the same court case posted a message on social media, saying: "I'm next."
Swedish media reported that Momika was streaming live on TikTok at the time he was shot. A video seen by reporters showed police picking up a phone and ending a livestream that appeared to be from Momika's TikTok account.
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Salwan Momika destroys a copy of the Koran outside a mosque in Stockholm
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In 2023, Momika gained notoriety after he tore apart the Koran and set it on fire, while placing a strip of bacon on it during Eid al-Adha, a major holiday in Islam.
Burning a copy of the Koran is seen by Muslims as a blasphemous act because they consider it the literal word of God.
In response to these burnings, Sweden raised its terrorism alert to the second-highest level and warned of threats against Swedes at home and abroad after the burnings outraged Muslims and triggered threats from jihadists.
While Stockholm eventually condemned the wave of Koran burnings in 2023, it was initially regarded as a protected form of free speech.
Sweden's migration agency in 2023 had attempted to deport Momika for giving false information on his residency application, but the application was denied as he risked torture and inhumane treatment in Iraq.
Iranians burn a Swedish national flag during a demonstration outside Sweden's embassy in Tehran on June 30 2023
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Police is seen at a crime scene in an apartment block in Soedertaelje
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There was widespread outrage from Muslims across the world in response to the Koran burnings.
On October 16, 2023, Abdesalem Lassoued, a 45-year-old Tunisian living illegally in Belgium, opened fire on Swedish football supporters in Brussels, killing two people.
Belgian authorities said that a motive for the killing was that the victims were Swedish and that the crime was potentially carried out as revenge for the Koran burnings.
