Status: 04.10.2021 10:04 a.m.
The Swedish artist Lars Vilks had been under police protection for his Mohammed cartoons for years. Islamists had put a bounty on him. Now Vilks and two bodyguards died in a traffic accident.
The Swedish artist and Mohammed cartoonist Lars Vilks was killed in a traffic accident. The vehicle with Vilks and two bodyguards crashed into a truck near Markaryd in southern Sweden, according to media reports. The police confirmed Vilk’s death, and the two police officers entrusted with his protection also died. The truck driver was taken to the hospital injured. The authorities did not initially assume a criminal background. The case will be “investigated like any other traffic accident,” said a police spokesman. There is no evidence of an attack.
“Outrageously tragic accident”
The Swedish Minister of Culture Amanda Lind wrote on Twitter that it was an “incredibly tragic” traffic accident in which Vilks and the two officers were killed. Vilks have had to live without freedom since 2010 because he made use of his freedom of expression and artistic freedom. It is indescribably sad that it ends like this.
Drawing causes international protests
The artist had been under police protection for years because of death threats from Islamists. He was 75 years old. Vilks was initially known within Sweden for his wooden sculptures, which he erected in a nature reserve without permission and which are visited by tens of thousands every year.
He achieved international fame in 2007 with a drawing showing the prophet Mohammed with a dog’s body. Many Muslims regard pictorial representations of their prophet as blasphemy and dogs as unclean animals. There were international protests, and Vilks became an object of hatred for Islamists. The terrorist organization Al-Qaeda put a bounty on him, and strangers tried to set his house on fire. The artist lived for years in a secret place and under police protection.
Attack in Copenhagen
In connection with a discussion event in Copenhagen in 2015, a cultural center in the Danish capital where Vilks was located was fired at. It is believed that he was the target of the terrorist attack. He was unharmed, but one man died and several other people were injured.