The Swedish artist Lars Vilks, known for his 2007 drawing of the Prophet Muhammad and the subsequent death threats that followed, died in a car crash on Sunday, Euronews reports.
Vilks, who was largely unknown outside of Sweden before his Muhammad drawing, had been living under police protection since 2007.
The drawing of Muhammand with a dog’s body led to a number of plots against him, and Al-Qaida put a bounty on his head.
In 2010, two men tried to burn down his house in southern Sweden.
In 2015 he escaped unscathed in Copenhagen from an attack during a debate on Islamism and freedom of expression following the Charlie Hebdo massacre
Last year, a woman from Pennsylvania in the US pleaded guilty in a plot to try to kill him.
Dogs are considered unclean by conservative Muslims, and Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.
Police said Vilks, 75, died alongside two of his bodyguards in a road accident.
The cause of the accident was under investigation.
