Iraqi citizen killed in Sweden for desecrating Quran

Stockholm: The 38-year-old Iraqi citizen Sloan Momica, who desecrated and burned the Quran in Sweden, was killed, and several people were detained by the police.

According to Al Arabiya News, a judge in Stockholm said on Thursday that an Iraqi man who burned the Quran in Sweden has died.

Sloan Momica burned and desecrated the holy book of Islam in Sweden in 2023. Videos of the burning of the Quran have condemned this act by Muslims around the world and have sparked a wave of anger in many Muslim countries, resulting in riots and unrest in many places.

The Stockholm District Court said that the verdict in Momica’s case was postponed on Thursday because the defendant had died. A judge at the court, Göran Lindahl, confirmed that the deceased was Sloan Momica. There is no further information on when and how he died.

Police say they were called to a shooting in Södertälje, near Stockholm, on Wednesday night and found a man with gunshot wounds. He later died and a preliminary investigation into the murder has been launched.

Swedish broadcaster SVT cited sources as saying the man killed was named Slovan Momica, who came to Sweden from Iraq in 2018 and was granted a three-year residence permit in 2021.

Prosecutor Rasmus Aman told Swedish news agency TT that several people had been arrested in the case, but did not provide further details.

Slovan Momica and a co-defendant were charged in a Stockholm court with inciting racial hatred through statements about burning the Quran, and a verdict in the case was due to be delivered on Thursday.