“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,” Ulf Kristersson, the Swedish prime minister said while commenting on the matter. The deputy prime minister, Ebba Busch also condemned the murder and said, “It is a threat to our free democracy. It must be met with the full force of our society.”
As per the reports, the deceased was streaming live on TikTok when he was shot. The security services said that while the police are investigating the matter, they are also constantly monitoring the events closely to see what impact it creates on the country’s security.
Notably, it has also come to the fore that the deceased Salwan Momika was living under constant threats in Sweden. In the trial, in which he was charged with inciting against a certain group, he was quoted as saying, “I live under death threats after al-Qaida published a statement threatening me. And the Iraqi state has issued an arrest warrant for me and put me on the red list. The Iraqi and the Taliban government are looking for me.”
Mårten Schultz, a legal commentator commented in the case that Sweden would become an unsafe place to stay if it appeared that alleged religious criticism led to Momika’s death. “If it turns out that it is so, it affects the image of Sweden, it would mean that Sweden can be seen as an unsafe country for people who exercise their freedom and rights. The threat picture against Momika was enormous. It is always tragic when a person is murdered, but it is particularly tragic when someone is because they have exercised their right to freedom of expression,” he said.
His lawyer Anna Roth meanwhile stated that the Swedish police provided protection to Momika only during the trials and when he participated in gatherings, but not otherwise. Former police commissioner Tage Åström backed the lawyer as he stated that the Police do not have the resources to provide personal protection to that extent.
He said that for the police to provide ‘severe’ protection, the threat must be severe. “To get protection to a greater extent, a very concrete threat is required. And if there were a very concrete threat, the person would be moved from their residence. In normal cases, you do not have protection in your home. The police do not have resources to that extent,” he said, who is now the operational manager of a security company.
In October 2023, during the war between the State of Israel and Hamas, activist Salwan Momika expressed his solidarity with the Jewish nation by stepping on the Quran and waving the Israeli flag. He was also seen kissing the Israeli flag and trampling a copy of the Quran with his foot.
On June 28, 2024, the Swedish Police gave the Iraqi refugee permission to burn the Quran at a demonstration outside the largest mosque in Stockholm. The development came ahead of Eid-al-Adha after a Swedish court struck down the police’s ban on Quran-burning demonstrations.
Salwan Momika was charged with inciting ‘ethnic hatred’ through his actions, and on Thursday, a Stockholm Court was set to pass a ruling on the same. The ruling against Momika has now been dismissed as the Court said that he has died. The Quran burnings in Sweden had strained the country’s ties with several Islamic countries, with massive protests in Muslim-majority countries.
Salwan Momika and another man Salwan Najem were charged with “offences of agitation against an ethnic or national group”.
