Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden who sparked a wave of indignation last year by desecrating the Koran, said on Wednesday that he had left the country to go to Norway after his residence permit was revoked.
Momika, an Iraqi Christian who burned the Koran several times in the summer of 2023 in Sweden, told AFP that he had arrived in Norway where he wants to seek asylum.
“I left Sweden due to the persecution I suffered from government institutions
,” Momika said in a message.
Demonstrations abroad
Its desecration sparked protests and condemnations in many Muslim countries.
In Iraq, demonstrators attacked the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July, starting a fire in the compound on the second attempt.
The Swedish government condemned the desecrations of the Koran but stressed the importance of laws on freedom of assembly and expression on its soil.
Swedish intelligence services raised the terrorist risk alert level to four on a scale of five in August after these demonstrations abroad, judging that Sweden had become a
“priority target”
.
The Swedish migration agency revoked Momika's residence permit in October, citing false information on his initial application, but had granted him a temporary permit because it could not return him to Iraq.
A month earlier, Iraq had requested his extradition because of his desecration of the Koran.
“Sweden has become a threat to me since the decision to expel me and the threat to extradite me
,” Momika added, calling
freedom of expression and the protection of human rights a
“big lie”
. Sweden.