Latest news with #IraqiChristian
Local Sweden
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Swedish security police lowers terror threat level from four to three
Sweden's intelligence service said on Friday it was lowering its terror alert level from "high threat" to "elevated threat", saying the risk of an attack had subsided. Advertisement The Swedish Security Service (Säpo) raised the level in August 2023 to "high threat" ‒ the fourth level on a scale of five ‒ after angry reactions to a series of protests involving desecrations of the Quran made the country a "prioritised target". "Propaganda against Sweden has subsided and Sweden is not specifically mentioned as a target," Fredrik Hallström, head of operations at the Swedish Security Service, told a press conference. "We do not see the same intense flow of attack threats directed at Sweden," he added. Säpo said it now considered the terror alert level to be at "elevated threat" ‒ the third level on its five-point scale. Hallström cautioned that with "an elevated threat, there is room for a terrorist attack to occur". A series of Quran burnings across the country ‒ most notably by Iraqi Christian Salwan Momika ‒ in the summer of 2023 sparked outrage in the Muslim world. It strained relations between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries, and Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July 2023, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion. Advertisement Momika ended up facing charges of inciting ethnic hatred, but in January of this year he was fatally shot in an apartment just hours before the court was due to deliver its ruling. His co-protester Salwan Najem, also of Iraqi origin, was ultimately found guilty of inciting ethnic hatred during four Quran burnings in 2023. Despite the lowered threat level, Charlotte von Essen, head of Säpo, stressed that "Sweden is in a serious security situation". "The worst in many years," von Essen told reporters. The Säpo chief pointed to the fact that the war in Ukraine was still ongoing. "Foreign powers ‒ and Russia in particular ‒ are carrying out extensive security-threatening activities in and against Sweden," she said.
Arab News
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Five suspects dismissed over Qur'an burner's murder in Sweden
STOCKHOLM: Five men arrested in Sweden over the killing of Salwan Momika, who repeatedly burned copies of the Qur'an in 2023, have been dismissed as suspects, a prosecutor said on Friday. Momika, a 38-year-old Iraqi Christian whose actions sparked outrage in several Muslim countries, was shot on January 29 in an apartment in Sodertalje, south of Stockholm. He died soon after in hospital. Momika was killed just hours before a Stockholm court was due to rule whether he and co-defendant Salwan Najem were guilty of inciting ethnic hatred. According to daily Aftonbladet, police had placed Momika in a secret location ahead of the verdict for his protection and he was streaming an address live on TikTok when intruders burst in. Five men were arrested just hours after the shooting but were all released two days later. They were formally dismissed as suspects on Friday. 'We have a fairly good idea of how events unfolded but no-one is currently in custody or a formal suspect,' prosecutor Rasmus Oman said. 'We are working broadly and I can't go into which leads we are following,' he added. After Momika's murder, the Stockholm court postponed its ruling for several days. It ultimately convicted 50-year-old Najem, also of Iraqi origin, of inciting ethnic hatred during four Qur'an burnings in 2023. No ruling was pronounced for Momika. Relations between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries were strained by the pair's actions. Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July 2023, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion. In August 2023, Sweden's intelligence service Sapo raised its threat level to four on a scale of one to five, saying the Qur'an burnings had made the country a 'prioritized target.' Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch called Momika's murder 'a threat to our free democracy,' while Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said there was 'a risk that there is also a link to a foreign power.'
