Posted on 03/24/2004 9:02:03 AM PST by Charles Henrickson
The sentencing of Mijailo Mijailovic for the murder of Anna Lindh features prominently in Wednesday's Swedish papers but does not attract the blanket coverage given to her death or the subsequent police investigation.
Stockholm's Aftonbladet reports that Mijailovic was completely silent as he was sentenced. It quotes a source saying he said almost nothing as he started his sentence on Tuesday evening and will meet his solicitor today, when they will discuss the possibility of appealing.
Expressen concentrates on the time Mijailovic will spend in prison.
The paper says he will serve at least 10 or 11 years and be middle-aged on his release.
"TV in his cell, a free gym and better food than in a retirement home await him and, above all, Mijailo Mijailovic may be regarded as a hero in prison if he plays his cards right."
The paper says Mijailovic may enjoy elevated status in prison.
"A police source" tells the paper he may indirectly benefit from the fact that he was defended by Peter Althin whose clients have included "several major criminals".
Compatriots
A professor of criminology adds that he should not have too many problems finding his feet as his "fame" will automatically give him elevated status and also because Mijailovic - who is of Serbian origin - will have many compatriots in prison.
A commentator writing in the paper adds that the international media presence outside the court made him feel "as if the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature was to be announced".
Svenska Dagbladet asks why Mijailovic killed Anna Lindh.
"The question of motive remains unanswered and Mijailovic has not been helpful."
The paper carries an interview with Ms Lindh's friend Eva Franchell, who was with her when she was attacked. She says the verdict and sentence are "as expected", but says she has still not rediscovered peace of mind as Mijailovic's motive has never been established.
Goeteborgs-Posten says an appeal is unlikely to change the verdict and sentence. A lawyer comments that there are no weaknesses in the court's 25-page explanation of its ruling but that Mijailovic is likely to appeal as he has nothing to lose.
Dagens Nyheter carries comments on the verdict.
Sweden's Justice Minister Thomas Bodstroem says the police and prosecutors succeeded under great pressure and even extracted a confession from Mijailovic.
"After the murder of Olof Palme, another unsolved murder would have been another open wound in democratic society," he says.
The verdict is also welcomed by the secretary-general of the Swedish Bar Association, the head of the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine and the leader of the opposition Moderate Unity Party.
An editorial in Sysdsvenska Dagbladet simply asks: "But why?"
The paper says the outcome was expected and that any other decision would have been "sensational".
"Unlike the Palme investigation which collapsed this did not become a national trauma. There's nothing here for private detectives and conspiracy theorists," it says.
The verdict confirmed who killed Ms Lindh but not why. The paper says that if Mijailovic had been found to be seriously mentally disturbed at the time of the attack then this would have lessened the criticism directed at the Swedish Security Police.
"If the murderer had been ill then it would have been less important that the Security Police did not feel there was any threat to the foreign minister. It is difficult to protect against madmen."
However, it says, the fact that the psychological assessment found he was not seriously mentally ill means that the security police's conduct remains "completely incomprehensible".
The paper says it is "remarkable" that she was not given personal protection as an eminent politician, especially as she featured prominently on posters at the end of the "heated" campaign leading up to Sweden's referendum on adopting the euro.
In assasinations, it is more important to learn who pulled the strings than who pulled the knife. Not here, and it is curious indeed, having in mind info available.
Ms. Lindh was in Belgrade March 12 2003 and she brought with her sensitive EU document to be ratified by Serbian PM Djinjic.
Document was extremely sensitive, to put Serbia under EU intel umberella. it would be win-win for both parties.
Document was never signed because Djinjic was assasinated that very day, just before meeting with Ms. Lindh. Investigation in his case also went nowhere and eyewitness was assasinated couple a days ago.
Then, "deranged lunatic" killed Anna Lindh. Sounds familiar? Like Pym Fortyjn assasination? Or it was rental movie?
How convenient, assasin was Swede of Serb extraction. Allegedly, he killed Anna because she was Serb enemy. In reality, Anna Lindh was friend of Serbia.
Put together, Anna Lindh and Djindjic knew quite a lot about terrorism. If they met, perhaps there would be no MADRID 11/3. But obviously, it was not meant to happen.
Can someone from Swedish list fill in some relevant data except 'the sound of silence'?
Yea, I probably disagreed with 100% of what she said but that doesn't mean she deserves to die or be harmed period.
10 years/"life"...what a joke. I heard they have free internet and everything else for the monkey that killed her. Let me tell you, what a perversion of justice...
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