Salwan Momika, the Iraqi-born Christian activist known for repeatedly burning the Koran in 2023, was shot and killed in Södertälje, south of Stockholm, late Wednesday.

His death comes amid an ongoing trial where he faced charges of inciting ethnic hatred.

Prosecutor Rasmus Oman confirmed to AFP on Thursday that an investigation had been opened into the killing of the 38-year-old, with five individuals detained in connection with the crime.

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“We’re in the very early stages … there’s a lot of information gathering. Five people have been detained suspected of involvement in the crime,” Oman stated.

Swedish police responded to reports of a shooting in an apartment building where Momika lived. Officers found a man with gunshot wounds, who was transported to a hospital but later succumbed to his injuries.

Several media outlets reported that the attack may have been broadcast live on social media. Aftonbladet suggested the assailant gained entry to the building via the roof, though authorities have not confirmed this detail.

Momika’s killing occurred just a day before a Stockholm court was set to deliver a ruling on his trial for “agitation against an ethnic group.” The court has since postponed its decision until February 3 following his death.

Momika gained international attention in 2023 after publicly desecrating the Koran, including burning copies of Islam’s holy book outside a Stockholm mosque.

He, along with co-protester Salwan Najem, was charged with inciting hatred against an ethnic group on four occasions that summer.

Their actions sparked outrage across the Muslim world and led to diplomatic tensions between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries.

Recall that in July 2023, angry protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice, setting fires within the compound during the second demonstration.

In response to the escalating backlash, Sweden’s intelligence agency, Säpo, raised the country’s terror threat level to four on a five-point scale, citing the Koran burnings as a factor that made Sweden a “prioritised target.”

Despite the controversy surrounding his protests, Momika insisted that he had no ill intentions toward Sweden.

“I don’t want to harm this country that received me and preserved my dignity,” he told Aftonbladet in April 2023.

Momika had been living in Sweden since 2018, but in October 2023, the Swedish Migration Agency revoked his residency permit, citing false information in his original application.

However, authorities granted him a temporary permit, stating that there was an “impediment to enforcement” of his deportation to Iraq.

The month before, Iraq had formally requested his extradition in response to his Koran-burning demonstrations.

In March 2024, Momika left Sweden for Norway, where he sought asylum, claiming that Sweden’s commitment to free speech and human rights was “a big lie.” However, Norwegian authorities deported him back to Sweden a few weeks later.

Before moving to Sweden, Momika had a controversial political history in Iraq. His social media activity indicated links to a Christian armed faction that fought against the Islamic State, as well as the creation of an obscure Syriac political party.

He also had public rivalries with influential Christian paramilitary groups and was briefly arrested.

In 2019, he joined Iraq’s anti-corruption protests, which were met with a violent crackdown that left over 600 people dead nationwide.

Momika’s case is among the first in Sweden to test the boundaries between free speech and inciting hatred.

While Swedish law generally protects acts of religious criticism, prosecutors argued that the context and rhetoric surrounding Momika’s actions could constitute “agitation against an ethnic group.”

In October 2023, a Swedish court convicted another man of inciting ethnic hatred for a 2020 Koran burning, marking the first legal ruling of its kind in the country.