And the other one is desperate to be given asylum in the United States, for he has lost faith in the Swedish government’s ability to protect him. His story, and that of his murdered friend, should be covered on 60 Minutes and in the New York Times, while Senator John Fetterman and Congressmen Ritchie Torres should demand that the survivor of the pair, now in the U.S., at once be granted permanent asylum.
This is the tale of two brave ex-Muslims in Sweden, who dared to set fire to a Qur’an, leading to the murder of one, Salwan Momika, and to the anguish of the other, Salwan Najem, who fled to the United States, where he is still wailing to granted permanent asylum.. More of the story can be found here: “Now Seeking U.S. Asylum, the Critic of Islam Sweden Won’t Protect,” European Conservative, January 16, 2026:
Following his conviction for incitement against an ethnic group—and the murder of his co-defendant Salwan Momika—a prominent opponent of Islam critic has fled Sweden and is now seeking asylum in America.
The Swedish court was wrong to convict Salwan Momika of “incitement against an ethnic group.” In burning a Qur’an, the two ex-Muslims were not inciting violence against an ethnic group. Muslims are not an ethnic group, nor are they a race. Furthermore, Momika and Najem were not trying to incite violence against anyone when they set fire to the Qur’an; they were merely engaged in a symbolic act of disaffection with Islam, the religion into which they had been born, and an act, too, of defiance of those who would wish as a result to harm them. They were no doubt hoping, too, by such an act of bravery to give heart to others who might be on the verge of abandoning Islam.
Salwan Najem—who carried out several high-profile Quran burnings with Momika in the summer of 2023—left Sweden during the spring and entered the United States, where he is currently detained while awaiting review of his asylum application.
The move came after a series of legal and security events that the activist says made his situation in Sweden untenable. On January 29th last year Najem’s co-defendant Salwan Momika was shot dead in his apartment in Södertälje while livestreaming on TikTok. The likely reason for Momika’s execution was his harsh and vocal criticisms of Islam.
The murder, believed to be a contract killing, occurred despite Momika reportedly being at a police-protected address. Following the crime, Najem was placed under the protection of the Swedish Security Service (Säpo), but lost confidence that the state could guarantee his safety.
Najem was convicted of four counts of incitement against an ethnic group for his Quran burnings, a verdict upheld by the Svea Court of Appeal. In January 2026, the Supreme Court declined to grant leave to appeal. Najem has described the verdict as punishment for his views, claiming Sweden has effectively reinstated a ban on blasphemy.
The Swedish courts, as I noted above, were wrong to convict Salwan Najem of “incitement against an ethnic group.” They were trying to enforce a nonexistent blasphemy law, by which anything that Muslims judge to be blasphemy will be treated as such, and the blasphemers punished. In that way, the state of Sweden has become an enforcer of Muslim censorship, and the people of Sweden are that much closer to the Islamization of their own societies.
I allow myself to believe that there is still a sufficient number of sensible, and sensibly alarmed, Swedes who will denounce the decisions of their courts in convicting the two ex-Muslims of “inciting against an ethnic group.” Perhaps there are still Swedish politicians, lawyers, professors, and journalists who will raise their voices against this miscarriage of justice, and against the Swedish courts to protect the right of free speech, including symbolic speech, for these ex-Muslims and for anyone else who chooses to copy their defiant display.
somehistory says
Sadly, in today’s world, more people are punished for doing a good deed, saying the right things, telling the Truth, than are those who lie, rape and murder and truly *incite* to hatred and murder every day of every week.
Hopefully this man will be granted the privilege to stay in the U.S. for if he is made to return, again the Truth will be attacked and an innocent man murdered.
I AM THE INFIDEL YOUR ALLAH WARNED YOU ABOUT says
Ex-muslims must be protected at all costs.
They left Islam because they know the truth about how satanic and evil Islam is
John1 says
salman Momika was raised a Syriac Catholic in Iraq, not Muslim. When he was killed, no one claimed his body, and after several days, it was apparently cremated. I sent an email to the Swedish Embassy in Washington to ask what happened to his remains, in hope he received a proper burial, and I never received any response.
gravenimage says
You are right, John. Looks as though he was abused by Norway, as well. This man should be acknowledged as a hero.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salwan_Momika
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I wonder whether Salwan Najem has a case? He would have had he been fleeing, say Iran or Afghanistan, although now, there are tight controls and extreme vetting on who people from these, and another 73 countries, really are.
But he’s fleeing Sweden, and he’d be hard pressed to prove that it’s not a safe country for him. Generally, when it comes to refugees, they’re supposed to go to the first safe country, and he already went to Sweden. Despite what happened to Momika, I do think he’d have an uphill task proving that he’s being persecuted there. And entry into this country b’cos of a bad law & order situation is a non-starter, as thousands of Salvadorians, Hondurans and Guatemalans will tell you
I do hope Najem manages to get to the US, but legally, I think he’ll have an uphill task
James Lincoln says
Infidel,
There is a somewhat similar situation in the UK now regarding the Jews.
They no longer feel safe in the UK.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
James
Luckily for them, Jews at least have Israel to flee to. That’s hardly the case for hapless non-muslim Gentiles anywhere in dar-ul-islam, from Malaysia to Gambia. And thanks to the stupidity of the West of indiscriminately allowing in muslims of all backgrounds and countries, as well as banning the association of islam w/ any of their crimes, the side effect of that is that all those innocent non-muslims fleeing from those hellholes would be looked at by native Westerners w/ the same suspicion as muslims are, w/ no discriminating b/w them. I do feel for them
gravenimage says
In Sweden, Two Ex-Muslims Burned a Qur’an. One of Them Was Murdered.
…………………………………………
This poor man Salwan Momika–but who can be surprised? Is Sweden even trying to find this brave man’s murderer?
gravenimage says
It’s been a year now, and he was supposed to be “police protected”–and still no suspect. I doubt his murder will ever be solved–or that anyone much is really trying to solve it.
John1 says
The surviving Koran burner has death threats against him in Sweden. Based on Salwan Momika’s fate, his life is in danger, and Sweden unable (won’t) protect him.
Remember, both men were charged with hate crimes and convicted of hurting Muslim sensibilities. Their actions also kept Sweden from being allowed into NATO because Turkey was pissed that Sweden would not punish them more severely, so they were probably privately glad to see Salman Momika leave the scene.