System blamed for Lindh murder
2004-06-30 14:12
Stockholm - As the appeal trial of the man sentenced to life for murdering foreign minister Anna Lindh went into its final day on Wednesday, the man's lawyer said Sweden's health care system was really to blame for the bloody deed.
In a stinging indictment of Sweden's social services, lawyer Peter Althin told the Svea Court of Appeals that 25-year-old Mijailo Mijailovic had sought psychiatric help in the past but had been turned down.
"Mijailo did not get the help he needed. One could say that society let him down" Althin said.
Lindh died of her injuries on September 11, 2003, a day after she was knifed repeatedly in the stomach, chest and arms by Mijailovic.
Her murder sent Sweden into a state of shock, 17 years after the still unsolved 1986 assassination of prime minister Olof Palme.
Mijailovic was sentenced to life in prison by a Stockholm district court in March but has appealed against the ruling, arguing that although he did inflict Lindh's fatal injuries he did not intend to take her life.
Althin told the court his client was one of many people to be refused the necessary psychiatric treatment.
Pressure kept him out of prison
The lawyer cited one incident in 2003 when a man mowed down passers-by with a shotgun in Stockholm and another when a man drove his car at high speed into a busy pedestrian area. Both had requested psychiatric help before going on their killing sprees and both had been refused.
The charge that Mijailovic had committed murder, which presupposes intent, could not stick because of his mental state, Althin said, reiterating calls for his client's release.
Pressure from the media, public opinion, prosecutors and Swedish people made it difficult for Mijailovic to be kept out of prison but the court should reject any considerations other than the pursuit of justice, he said.
"Is it possible for Mijailo to get a fair trial? Is the court prepared to do justice, even if the world comes to an end?" Althin asked.
Mijailovic was not getting the same treatment as defendants in other trials because his victim had been a high-profile minister, Althin said.
The lawyer's performance appeared to have leave an impression on some observers.
Trial lawyer Leif Silbersky, who had previously doubted that the court could change its mind, said on Wednesday he might have been wrong.
- AFP