A 25-year old Swede of Serbian origin was formally charged with the murder of Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh yesterday, setting the stage for a trial to open early on Wednesday, officials said.
Mijailo Mijailovic had last week confessed to fatally stabbing Anna Lindh, one of the country's most popular politicians, in September 2003.
His lawyer claimed that the killing was a random act of violence, carried out without premeditation, but prosecutors said on Monday they had no doubt that Mijailovic wanted to kill Anna Lindh.
That left no alternative to a murder charge, which implies the intent to kill.
"One can see from the very violence, the power in his attack, that he intended to kill Anna Lindh," chief prosecutor Krister Peterson said in an interview on Swedish TV yesterday.
Lindh, who had been tipped as a future prime minister, was stabbed on September 10 while shopping for clothes in a Stockholm department store. Her death, the next day, sent shockwaves of grief and indignation through Sweden.
According to transcripts from police interrogations of Mijailovic released Monday, he confessed to the murder, but insisted that the crime had not been politically motivated.
"There was no motive, no political motive," he said, adding, "I had nothing against her personally."
Police, however, have stated that they believe Mijailovic was well aware that he was attacking Sweden's foreign minister.
"He knew that it was Anna Lindh whom he was attacking," chief investigator Leif Jennekvist said of Mijailovic on Swedish TV yesterday.
"He rushed up to her, he took out a knife and he stabbed her... in the middle of her body," he said.
The injuries he inflicted to her stomach, chest and arms were so severe that she died later in hospital.
Head prosecutor Agneta Blidberg released the formal indictment, covering 1,120 pages, less than a week after Mijailovic admitted to the killing during a police interrogation.
Eagerly awaited, the indictment confirmed reports that Mijailovic claims to have sought psychiatric help in the days leading up to the murder, but that he had not been permitted to see a specialist.
Transcripts from police interrogations of Mijailovic show that he claimed voices in his head had forced him to attack Lindh.
"One can't resist the voices, one can't manage to stand up to them. They are a real pain when then come," Mijailovic had said in his confession, according to the transcripts.
So, whose voice did he hear? "I don't know," he said. "I think it was Jesus, that he has chosen me."
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
RSS