Salwan Momika, who burned Holy Quran in Sweden, found dead

Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, who committed the blasphemous act of burning the Holy Quran several times, has been found dead in Norway.

According to reports, Momika had recently left Sweden and had sought asylum in Norway and was reportedly under the protection of the authorities.

Momika had recently put an update about him shifting to Norway from Sweden. He also revealed that he has applied from asylum and protection from the Norwegian authorities.

Multiple social media handles claimed that Salwan’s lifeless body was found in Norway. However, official clarification from Norwegian authorities has not yet been received.

In 2023, a protest erupted outside the Stockholm mosque in Sweden where Salwan Momika set ablaze some pages of The Holy Quran in an insulting act. The shocking incident was reported during the Eid-al-Adha festivities on June 28, 2023, leading to protest in Muslim countries around the world.

In addition to burning the Quran, he has recently taken to provoking pro-Palestine solidarity activists amid the genocide in Gaza, putting images of him burning the Palestinian flag.

Immigration authorities declined to extend Salwan Momika’s residence permit in October, but the decision to deport him to Iraq was temporarily postponed for security considerations.

Momika has burned Quran at a slew of protests in Sweden since June last year. Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.

Sweden’s intelligence agency heightened its terror alert level in mid-August to four on a scale of five after the angry reactions made the country a “prioritised target”.

The Swedish government has condemned the desecrations of the Quran but upheld the country’s laws regarding freedom of speech and assembly.

Salwan Momika is a 37-year-old refugee fled from Iraq to Sweden a couple of years ago and was living in the municipality of Järna in Södertälje, Stockholm County.