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Salwan Momika

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Salwan Momika
سلوان موميكا
ܣܠܘܢ ܡܘܡܝܟܐ
Momika holding a picture of Muqtada al-Sadr, 2023
Born
Salwan Sabah Matti Momika

(1986-06-23)23 June 1986
Qaraqosh, Nineveh Governorate, Ba'athist Iraq
Died29 January 2025(2025-01-29) (aged 38)
Södertälje, Sweden
Cause of deathGunshot wound
NationalityIraqi
Known forQuran desecrations
Military career
Allegiance Iraq[dubious – discuss]
Service / branch Popular Mobilization Forces
Years of service2014–2017
Unit
Battles / wars

Salwan Sabah Matti Momika (Arabic: سلوان صباح متَّى موميكا; Syriac: ܣܠܘܢ ܨܒܚ ܡܬܝ ܡܘܡܝܟܐ; 23 June 1986 – 29 January 2025) was an Iraqi refugee in Sweden and former paramilitary member of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). While living in Sweden, he became an atheist anti-Islam activist who organized public demonstrations where he burnt and desecrated the Quran.[1] Momika was assassinated on 29 January 2025 during a live broadcast on TikTok.[2][3][4]

Background

Momika came from Qaraqosh, a town in the Al-Hamdaniya district in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh[5]. He was an ethnic Assyrian and raised as a Syriac Catholic.[6][7] During the Iraqi civil war, when Christians became persecuted by the Islamic State of Iraq (the precursor of ISIS), Momika joined the Assyrian Patriotic Party and worked as a security guard for the party's headquarters in Mosul. According to Iraqi government sources, Momika fled his hometown in 2012 after the local court found him guilty of causing a wrongful death during a car accident and sentenced him to three years of imprisonment in Badush.[8][9]

After the fall of Mosul to ISIS militants in June 2014, Momika joined the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) to fight against ISIS.[10] Specifically, he has appeared in videos in military uniform, as a part of the Christian unit "Spirit of God Jesus Son of Mary Battalion" (Kataib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam) brandishing firearms and pledging allegiance to the Imam Ali Brigades (to which the Christian unit is a part of), which are a PMF faction and part of the Islamic Movement of Iraq.[11] The Imam Ali Brigades are known to have close connections to Iran and is considered to be an Iranian proxy.[12] The brigades were also accused of committing war crimes and engaging in sectarian violence.[13] It's said that Momika was also affiliated with the Syriac Assembly Movement, a political party that received support from the Government of the Kurdistan Region.[14]

Momika also founded the Syriac Democratic Union and the Falcons of the Syriac Forces in 2014, an armed militia which was affiliated with the Christian militia Babylon Brigade, the armed wing of the Babylon Movement.[12] In 2017, Momika was involved in an internal power struggle with fellow Babylon Movement leader Rayan al-Kildani, which he lost. He fled the country as a result.[15]

Activism

Immigration to Sweden

In 2017, Momika fled to Germany with a Schengen visa, where he announced his atheism and apostasy from Christianity.[7] In April 2018, Momika applied for a refugee visa to Sweden, and he was since then, registered as an Iraqi refugee until April 2021 when he was granted a three-year temporary residence permit, which was due to expire in April 2024.[16] Momika was denied a permanent residence, necessary to acquire Swedish citizenship, because he lied in his asylum application by denying that he was in the Imam Ali Brigades, claiming that he was associated with the political branch and not the paramilitary branch of the movement.[17] He was seen in pictures outside the Riksdag along with Robert Halef [sv], a member of the Riksdag for the Christian Democrats. He also had a meeting with Julia Kronlid, a member of the Riksdag for the Sweden Democrats.[16] Momika later stated that he wanted to run for election to the Riksdag as a candidate for the party.[18]

After he was granted a residence permit in Sweden, while still under investigation for his associations with the pro-Iranian militant group, he threatened a man with whom he shared accommodation with a knife, which resulted in him being convicted for unlawful threats the following year. He was sentenced to probation and community service.[16]

Quran burnings

Main article: 2023 Quran burnings in Sweden
Momika burning a Quran in Stockholm, 2023

In 2023, Momika arranged a series of demonstrations against Islam. Momika posted dozens of videos online, often with majority-Muslim country names in Arabic as hashtags, prior to the Quran burnings. During these demonstrations, he desecrated the Quran and burned it with police protection and legal permission. The Quran burnings were accompanied by attacks towards Momika.[19][20][21]

Also in 2023, the Swedish Migration Agency decided that Momika was to be expelled from the country.[22] Due to threats against him in Iraq, the expulsion could however not be exercised, and he thus received a new temporary residence permit until April 2024.[23]

Deportation from Norway

On 27 March 2024, it was reported that Momika had left Sweden for Norway to seek asylum.[24] Shortly after his departure, there were reports in social media that he had been found dead in Norway, but Norwegian police appeared to deny the rumours.[25] On 4 April, Norwegian police announced they had arrested Momika on 28 March, and that they planned to deport him back to Sweden based on the Dublin Regulation.[26] He was transported back to Sweden on 11 April.[27]

Death

Main article: Killing of Salwan Momika

Momika died on 29 January 2025, at the age of 38, after being shot in an apparent assassination.[28][29] It happened at his home in Södertälje during a TikTok livestream.[30][31][32] Five arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, according to a Swedish prosecutor.[33][34] As a result of his death, his verdict in the Quran-burning case was postponed until 3 February.[35]

See also

References

  1. ^ Wikén, Johan; Alshawish, Kovan (31 July 2023). "Salwan Momika och Salwan Najem – männen bakom sommarens koranbränningar i Sverige". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  2. ^ Emanuelsson, Eric (30 January 2025). "Uppgifter: Koranbrännaren Salwan Momika mördad under livesändning". EFN.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  3. ^ Koranbrännaren Salwan Momika har skjutits till döds. Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). 30 January 2025. Archived from the original on 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  4. ^ "Uppgifter: Koranbrännaren Salwan Momika skjuten till döds". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). 30 January 2025. Archived from the original on 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  5. ^ "Iraqi man who sparked riots with Koran burnings shot dead in Sweden". Sky News. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  6. ^ "x.com". Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  7. ^ a b Alkarma TV قناة الكرمة (28 July 2023). بكل وضوح (حلقة 191) -لماذا يحرقون القرآن؟- الخميس 27 يوليو 2023– قناة الكرمة. Archived from the original on 21 July 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2024 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ al-Salhy, Suadad (29 July 2023). "Why Iraq thinks a plot is fanning the flames of its diplomatic crises". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024.
  9. ^ Svensson, Birgit (4 July 2023). "Koran-burning in Sweden: The Iraqi Christian turned radical | Qantara.de". Qantara.de. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Koranbrännaren kan kopplas till regimen i Iran". DN.SE (in Swedish). 2 September 2023. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  11. ^ صوت السريان The voice of the Syriac (1 July 2015). حركة المقاومة المسيحية (كتائب اسود السريان) الشيخ سلوان موميكا. Archived from the original on 21 July 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2024 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ a b "As uncertainty shrouds his future, a past full of contradictions haunts Qur'an burner Salwan Momika". Arab News. 7 July 2023. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  13. ^ ""كتائب الإمام علي": لمحة عن ميليشيا شيعية عراقية متشددة تحارب "داعش" – مركز الروابط للدراسات الاستراتيجية والسياسية" (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 19 September 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  14. ^ Joseph, Max (10 May 2018). "What does the upcoming Iraqi election mean for Assyrians in 2018?". Archived from the original on 16 September 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2025. This list, three members short of a full ten, has Salwan Momika as its key figure in the background.
  15. ^ "From militia leader to refugee: The backstory of the man who burned a Quran in Sweden". The Observers – France 24. 10 July 2023. Archived from the original on 9 September 2023.
  16. ^ a b c Wikén, Johan; Alshawish, Kovan (18 August 2023). "Bilderna på koranbrännaren utreds av Migrationsverket". SVT (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  17. ^ Nicholls, Catherine (30 January 2025). "Man who staged Quran burning protests in Sweden shot dead, authorities say". CNN. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  18. ^ "Koranbrännaren om sitt SD-medlemskap: "Vill kandidera till riksdagen"". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 5 July 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  19. ^ "Koranbränning i Malmö stormades – och avbröts". www.tv4.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 27 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  20. ^ "A woman interrupts a Quran-burning protest in Sweden by spraying activist with a fire extinguisher". AP News. 18 August 2023. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  21. ^ Karlidag, Ilgin (27 July 2023). "Sweden's Quran burnings put freedom of expression law to test". BBC. Archived from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  22. ^ "Domstol fastslår: Salwan Momika ska utvisas". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 7 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  23. ^ "Slår fast: Salwan Momika ska utvisas". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). TT. 7 February 2024. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  24. ^ Hamadé, Kassem (27 March 2024). "Här lämnar Salwan Momika Sverige". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 7 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  25. ^ "No official word on Quran-burner Salwan Momika's death rumours". India Today. 2 April 2024. Archived from the original on 12 April 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  26. ^ "Koranbrenner Salwan Momika pågrepet – sendes tilbake til Sverige". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 4 April 2024. Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  27. ^ Hamadé, Kassem (11 April 2024). "Salwan Momika är tillbaka i Sverige – ilskan mot Norge". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 11 April 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  28. ^ "Uppgifter: Koranbrännaren Salwan Momika skjuten till döds". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). 30 January 2025. Archived from the original on 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  29. ^ Davies, Maia; Aeberhard, Danny (30 January 2025). "Man who burned Quran 'shot dead in Sweden'". BBC News. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  30. ^ "BREAKING | Man who burnt Quran in 2023 and sparked protests shot dead in Sweden". mathrubhumi.com. 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  31. ^ "An Iraqi man who carried out Quran burnings in Sweden is killed in a shooting". The Washington Post. 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  32. ^ "Während TikTok-Livestream: Mit Koran-Verbrennungen bekannt gewordener Iraker in Schweden erschossen – Video – WELT". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  33. ^ "Koran burner shot dead in Sweden, five arrested". France24. 30 January 2025. Archived from the original on 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  34. ^ "Salwan Momika: Man who burned Quran killed in Sweden". DW. 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  35. ^ "Koran burner shot dead in Sweden". France 24. 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
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