Sweden identifies suspect in killing of Quran-burner Momika

Sweden identifies suspect in killing of Quran-burner Salwan Momika — Quran burning by Salwan Momika at Benny Fredriksson square in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 21, 2023. Photo: Creative Commons/wikimedia

STOCKHOLM,— Swedish prosecutors have identified a suspect in the January killing of Salwan Momika, an Iraqi-born activist known for publicly burning copies of the Islamic book Quran, officials said Monday.

The case has drawn international attention and renewed questions about possible foreign involvement.

According to a statement from the prosecutor’s office, investigators have gathered extensive forensic evidence and reviewed multiple surveillance recordings.

“We have a clear understanding of the chain of events,” the statement said. “However, the suspect’s current location remains unknown.”

Authorities did not release the suspect’s name, but court filings reviewed by reporters show he is a 24-year-old man from Syria who had been living in Sweden at the time of the attack.

The documents indicate that Momika was shot three times in what prosecutors described as a “carefully planned” killing.

A detention hearing is scheduled for Friday in a district court, a step required under Swedish law before an international arrest warrant can be issued.

Momika, an Iraqi refugee, gained notoriety in Sweden for burning and desecrating Qurans during public demonstrations.

He was fatally shot in a town near Stockholm just hours before a court was set to deliver a verdict in a case where he faced charges of “agitation against an ethnic or national group.”

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said earlier this year that investigators were considering whether “foreign powers” might have had a role in the killing.

The Quran burnings in Sweden and neighboring countries have sparked anger across the Muslim world.

Critics called the acts deeply offensive, saying they insulted Islam, which regards the Quran as the literal word of God.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in 2023 that anyone who desecrates the Quran “must receive the most severe punishment” and accused Sweden of “aligning itself against the Muslim world.”

In response to the tensions, Sweden raised its national terror alert to the second-highest level in 2023, warning of possible attacks against Swedish citizens both at home and abroad.

The alert was lowered earlier this year to level three out of five.

An anthropologist interviewed by iKurd.net in early 2025 said, on condition of anonymity, that “Islam promotes violence against non-Muslims and conflicts with Western values,” suggesting it “should be legally banned in Europe.”

(With files from Reuters)