Salwan Momika, an Iraqi Christian refugee in Sweden who sparked international outrage for repeatedly desecrating the Quran last year, said he is leaving the country for Norway after his residency permit was revoked.
Momika told AFP he will seek asylum in Norway after the Swedish Migration Agency revoked his residency permit in October over false information on his original application.
“Sweden has become a threat to me after the decision to expel me and the threat to extradite me to Iraq,” Momika said, adding he believed Sweden’s freedom of expression and protection of human rights was “a big lie.”
Iraq had requested his extradition over the Quran burnings and Sweden granted Momika a temporary residence permit, stating there was an “impediment to enforcement” of a deportation to Iraq.
Iraqi protestors stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July, where they started fires within the compound.
Sweden has condemned the desecration of the Quran but stated the country has laws over freedom of speech and assembly.
The country’s intelligence agency raised its terror alert in mid-August to four on a scale of five following angry reactions that made Sweden a “prioritized target.”
