Salwan Momika, an anti-Islam activist, was shot hours before he was due to face a trial verdict (Johan Nilsson, TT News Agency via Reuters)
In short:
Salwan Momika, who sparked unrest in Stockholm in 2023 when he burned the Koran outside a mosque, has been shot dead in Sweden.
He was facing four counts of agitating an ethnic group and a trial verdict had been due the day after his death.
What's next?
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the shooting could be linked to a foreign power and that security services were "deeply involved".
An anti-Islam campaigner who sparked violent protests when he burned the Koran outside a mosque has been shot dead in Sweden.
Salwan Momika, 38, an Iraqi refugee, was shot in a house in Sodertalje town near Stockholm on Wednesday, local time.
Mr Momika set fire to a copy of Islam's holy book outside Stockholm Central Mosque in 2023. It outraged Muslims, triggered threats from jihadists and saw unrest break out in the city.
He and one other were facing four counts of agitating an ethnic group.
Stockholm District Court had been due to hand down a trial verdict on Thursday, but the hearing was postponed after it was "confirmed that one of the defendants had died".
Five people have been arrested in connection with Mr Momika's shooting.
Stockholm police said they were called to an apartment in Hovsjö at around 11pm to a report of gunshots.
Local media have reported that Mr Momika was live-streaming on social media around the time he was shot.
He was taken to hospital and the force announced the following day that he had died.
'Threat to democracy'
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Thursday Mr Momika's shooting could be linked to a foreign power and security services were assisting with the investigation.
"I can assure you that the security services are deeply involved because there is obviously a risk that there is a connection to a foreign power," he said.
Vice Prime Minister Ebba Busch condemned the murder.
"It is a threat to our free democracy. It must be met with the full force of our society," she wrote on X.
Sweden's Security Service told Reuters it was assessing the potential impact of the shooting "on Swedish security."
Police carry out operations in Sodertalje, south of Stockholm, following Mr Momika's shooting in an apartment (TT News Agency: Jonas Ekstromer)
Burning the Koran is seen by Muslims as a blasphemous act because they consider it the literal word of God.
Sweden raised its terrorism alert to the second-highest level and warned of threats against Swedes at home and abroad after the Koran burnings, most of them by Mr Momika.
While the Swedish government condemned the wave of Koran burnings in 2023, it is widely regarded as a protected form of free speech.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in 2023 that people who desecrate the Koran should face the "most severe punishment" and Sweden had "gone into battle-array for war on the Muslim world" by supporting those responsible.
Sweden's migration agency in 2023 wanted to deport Mr Momika for giving false information on his residency application, but couldn't as he risked torture and inhumane treatment in Iraq.
