. . . . Mijailo Mijailovic . . . . . . . . . . . . Anna Lindh . . . . . . . . . . The murder weapon. . . .Peter Althin (M's lawyer)
Posted on 01/07/2004 7:22:02 AM PST by Charles Henrickson
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The man being held for the murder of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh has confessed to the killing, saying it was unplanned, his defense lawyer said on Wednesday.
Mijailo Mijailovic, 25, had until now said he had nothing to do with the knife attack on Lindh, who died on September 11 a day after she was repeatedly stabbed in a smart Stockholm department store.
He could face life imprisonment if convicted at trial.
Mijailovic, born in Sweden to Serbian immigrant parents, was arrested on September 24. Police have said their evidence includes traces of his DNA found on the murder weapon.
"During interrogation yesterday he confessed to the killing," Chief Prosecutor Krister Petersson told Reuters. "We are not willing to say exactly what he said."
"He told us that he attacked Anna Lindh and inflicted the wounds that led to her death. There was no political motive whatsoever and no planning," said Mijailovic's defense lawyer Peter Althin, who was present.
Before her death Lindh, a 46-year-old mother of two young children, was widely tipped as Sweden's next prime minister.
PSYCHIATRIC TEST
Petersson said the sentence for murder was usually between 10 years and life imprisonment.
But Mijailovic may undergo a psychiatric examination. If found mentally ill, he would receive treatment and may not go to jail. "The sentence will depend on the medical examination," Petersson said.
According to a tentative timetable outlined earlier, the prosecutor could file formal charges on January 12, in which case the trial must start by January 19.
Swedish TT news agency said the trial was likely to start on January 14 and last three to four days.
Agneta Blidberg, another chief prosecutor assigned to the case, told public service SR radio news the forensic evidence and confession meant it now looked possible to get a conviction.
There is no jury in Swedish courts. A panel of judges -- in the Lindh case two professionals and three laymen -- decide the verdict after hearing the prosecution and defense cases along with evidence from witnesses.
"The trial will be all about the penalty, not about the guilt," said Per Samuelsson, an independent lawyer.
Lindh was killed just a few days before a national referendum on whether to adopt the European Union's single currency, the euro.
But police have never believed the motive for the killing had any link with Lindh's prominent role in the pro-euro campaign, which was defeated by the "No" side.
Swedish police initially detained another man for the murder but released him when they arrested Mijailovic, described in a preliminary psychiatric evaluation as a high-school drop-out.
Lindh's murder evoked painful memories among Swedes of the assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986. Palme, whose killer has never been found, was shot as he walked home from a cinema. Like Lindh, he was without bodyguards.
Referring to the host of conspiracy theories that still dog the Palme case, Justice Minister Thomas Bodstrom, a lawyer, told SVT television news that Mijailovic's confession was very important for public confidence in the rule of law.
"We avoid years of theories and private investigations claiming that the wrong person has been convicted," he said.
STOCKHOLM (AFP) - More than just a gifted politician, Anna Lindh was seen as a unique human being, and her sudden death in September deeply shocked the political establishment and ordinary Swedes alike.
Swedes could breathe a sigh of relief Wednesday that the case will apparently be concluded with surprising speed following the confession by 25-year-old Mijailo Mijailovic, yet the void left behind by Lindh, who had been tipped to become the Swedish prime minister one day, will not be filled anytime soon.
Months after Lindh died of her wounds on September 11, the outpouring of national grief has continued with a persistence that Sweden has not seen since the 1986 assassination of its then-prime minister Olof Palme.
At home as abroad, Lindh, the 46-year-old mother of two young boys, has in death been hailed as one of the world's most talented and one of the most liked diplomats.
Late last month, Prime Minister Goeran Persson admitted to Swedish media that he had been so depressed following her murder that he had wondered whether he would be able to continue doing his job.
"I'm never going to experience anything worse," he told Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter.
After working closely together for five years, especially on questions concerning Sweden's EU membership, Persson said he suffered a terrible shock in losing his friend and colleague.
Swedish media had speculated that Persson was grooming the popular and outgoing Lindh to take over the prime ministership before he had completed his term in office in 2006.
As foreign minister, Lindh represented her country abroad with political ideals that were also her own personal goals: defending democracy, human rights and equality, values Swedes cherish and in which they take immense pride.
Swedes were proud to have Lindh as their spokeswoman to the rest of the world.
In a tragic irony, among the Swedish values Lindh defended was the importance of not cutting politicians off from the people with too much security.
"We must defend this special little political environment we have -- that we don't have blue lights and sirens like they do in other countries," Lindh said in an interview rebroadcast by Swedish television hours after her death was announced.
Her death reignited the debate on whether Sweden's top politicians are well enough protected, and in November, Swedish secret police Saepo went on the lookout for additional bodyguards for the country's VIPs.
While Lindh's murder did lead to changes in security, it did not affect one of the issues she cared most about: Sweden swapping the krona for the euro.
Before the referendum held just days after her murder, signs had emerged of sympathy vote for the slain "yes" campaigner, but that did not materialize. The "no" camp captured 56.1 percent of votes, against 41.8 for the "yes" camp.
But the historic referendum was overshadowed both at home and abroad by the mourning for Lindh.
Condolences from leaders and dignitaries around the world poured in following the news, and some 1,300 VIPs, friends, political allies and diplomatic colleagues gathered in Stockholm for a memorial service on the eve of her private funeral.
Lindh, whose success in combining a high-power career with being a wife and mother had made her an inspiration to many Swedish women, was also honoured with makeshift shrines across Sweden, and tens of thousands of people attended candlelight vigils and anti-violence rallies in the days following her murder.
The Swedish postal services have issued a memorial stamp in Lindh's honor, and calls have been made for streets and public squares to be named after her.
1) As I recall from stories that came out a few months ago, Mijailovic was known to have hated Lindh for several years, because of her stance on Serbia.
2) Lindh's face and voice had been plastered all over Sweden in the weeks leading up to the Euro referendum. Her constant, high-profile presence must have enflamed Mijailovic, finally "setting him off." (Remember, years earlier, he had committed a "minor" knife attack within his own family.)
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