An Iraqi refugee in Sweden was killed just hours before a court ruling on his repeated Quran burnings during anti-Islam demonstrations last year.
Police announced on Thursday that they had arrested five suspects in connection with the murder of 38-year-old Salwan Momika, who was reportedly shot inside a house in the town of Södertälje, near Stockholm, the previous day.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson assured the public that security services were heavily involved in the investigation, citing the potential risk of foreign involvement.
Vice Prime Minister Ebba Busch condemned the killing, calling it “a threat to our free democracy” and emphasizing that it must be met with the full force of society in a statement on X.
Meanwhile, the Stockholm District Court, which was scheduled to rule on Thursday on whether Salwan Momika and co-defendant Salwan Najem were guilty of “agitation against an ethnic or national group,” announced that it had postponed its verdict to February 3 due to Momika’s death.