Summary
Salwan Momika, the Iraqi man who staged several Quran burnings in Sweden in 2023, was shot and killed in Sodertalje, near Stockholm.
His actions had sparked international outrage, riots, and diplomatic tensions. Swedish police confirmed a murder investigation is underway, and several arrests have been made.
Momika, who sought asylum in Sweden in 2018, faced charges of incitement to hatred, with a verdict scheduled for the day after his death.
His protests were permitted under free speech laws but led to legal action against him.
look i hate netanyahoo and his party but i don’t think this iraqi guy deserved it, i belive in freedom of religion and expression
and i think based on my experience (due to coming from sunni family) islam is something more than a religion
His schtick was grifting and being as racist as possible against brown people. This blatant racism is unacceptable in any way. We do not see Muslims mass burning Torah’s because they hate Israel either nor should they be doing that.
This is straight up Nazi rhetoric. but because it is against Islam it is accepted in most Western countries. Even part of the more liberal establishment will defend it.
This man will be slightly more missed than the United Healthcare CEO.
Fucking what? He WAS “brown” aswell. He was a Christian from Iraq, ostracized for being Christian, by Muslims. I would have been all for him burning all of the religious texts in protest, but alas, he was one of them.
He was the leader of a Christian militia group too, supplied by Iran. You are leaving quite a few details out. I’d compare him to the Phalange in Lebanon who committed Sabra and Shatilla.
Waving the flag of the white Apartheid can imply little else than racism. If anything he should be burning American and Israeli flags for destroying his country.
Christian militia group – supplied by Iran?
How much kool-aid have you been drinking? No, Iran, the violently islamic theocracy does not support Christian groups. Unless it is for undermining their religious opponents, such as sunni Muslims. There is a common theme about religious wars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kataib_Rouh_Allah_Issa_Ibn_Miriam
A sub group of
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kata'ib_al-Imam_Ali
There is blurry footage online of a guy who is alleged to be him burning people.
Oh look! More religious violence!
It’s almost like you make my point for me. And look who the opposition is that you want me to sympathize with. FUCKING ISIS.
I don’t think burning people alive is a great look no matter what side you are on.
This guy treating every Muslim like they are ISIS is enough of an indicator of his army deeds.
I dont know, the Swedish police’s slowness to charge Paludan and Momika with hate speech doesn’t really justify some random vigilante (or Turkish spy) going and giving him the death penalty. Kinda outside the paradox of tolerance here.
Is this accepted in most Western countries? It might he legal in the USA but most would think ypu are a weird asshole for burning a holy book.
Seems pretty accepted by some Lemmy commenters and certain vocal minorities in the western countries.
That’s different as those are very niche.
do you have any proof of him being racist?
Hate speech is an exception to the freedom of speech in Sweden. (Same as in EU countries).
You are allowed to practice your religion and express yourself, but hate speech is off the table.
So if he was not jailed or fined for these book burnings, the law has failed and somebody could have taken matters in their own hands.
This is, as a matter of fact, incorrect. There is only one law regarding what in english might be called “hate speech”. It refers to “agitation against a population group”, and is the only exception to freedom of expression relevant in this context, mentioned in “brottsbalken”, our criminal law.
Criticism of religion however is raised in other, more important parts of law, namely the Swedish form of Government (our constitution). It is there, specifically and repeatedly, mentioned as a kind of speech and expression that is protected. As such, in the case of Salwan Momika it’d have been necessary to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he intended to target muslims by burning quran books, rather than (as he himself claimed) to openly criticize islam. Nobody has as of the posting of this comment been deemed guilty of agitation for burning any religious texts in Sweden under the current law.
This is part of why the trial of him and his companion ended up taking so long. It was one of the first high-profile cases of its kind and likely to set precedent on the topic. As such, I consider his assassination on the night before the verdict of his trial to be not only a barbaric act of violence, but also an explicit attack on the Swedish legal system, our constitution and our freedom of expression.
I’m an American mechanical engineer that’s been considering working and living in Sweden for a long time, with recent events pushing me to pursue it with more vigor. Do you know of any culture/law/history primers that may be accessible for an English speaker? Or similar subject but in Swedish with children’s book-style vocab/grammar? Cultural integration for kindergartners would be excellent. I’d just like to not make a fool of myself!
I’ll get back to you on that. If you like you can contact me via email Iceblade02@proton.me.
What exactly more than a religion is it?
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