02 December 2004, 13:26 Society

The final verdict for Anna Lindh's killer

Irina Petrakova The murderer of the head of the Swedish Foreign Ministry, Anna Lindh, was found guilty and finally sentenced to life imprisonment. The country's Supreme Court decided that Mikhailo Mikhailovich was completely sane.

The Supreme Court of Sweden has put an end to the murder of the country's Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. The son of Serbian immigrants, 25-year-old Mihailo Mihailovic, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Mikhailovich admitted to attacking the minister, but stated that he killed Anna Lindh due to a mental disorder: he allegedly heard voices that ordered him to stab Lindh. The 46-year-old head of the Swedish Foreign Ministry , who was destined for the post of prime minister, died on September 11 last year, the day after she was attacked by Mihailovic in a department store in Stockholm.

Initially, the police caught another person who was suspected of committing the murder. But a few days later Mikhailo Mikhailovich was detained. DNA testing (a knife and a cap left by the criminal were found at the murder scene) proved his involvement in the crime. In addition, a taxi driver testified against Mikhailovich: he identified the young man who drove away from the department store immediately after the murder of Anna Lindh. Finally, recordings from the store's video cameras indicated Mikhailovich's physical resemblance to the killer.

After hearing all the testimony, the Stockholm District Court sentenced Mikhailovich to life imprisonment in March of this year. However, the defendant's lawyer filed a complaint with the appeal court.

Mihailovic's lawyer insisted that he committed murder as a result of mental illness. A second forensic psychiatric examination was carried out, after which in July of this year the appellate court declared Mikhailovich insane, overturned the sentence and sent him for compulsory treatment. But the Swedish prosecutor's office did not agree with this decision of the appeal court and sent a complaint to the country's Supreme Court, demanding that the first sentence be reinstated.

The Supreme Court again tried to interrogate Mikhailovich. However, he did not answer the judge's questions. As the defendant's lawyer explained, Mikhailovich behaved inappropriately due to his illness. The lawyer stated at the trial that Mikhailovich did not make plans to kill the minister. “When he came to the department store, he had a mental disorder, he did not pursue the goal of killing Anna Lindh, anyone could have been in her place,” said lawyer Michael Nilsson.

The Supreme Court heard the opinions of six specialists in the field of psychiatry.

According to local media, initially four of them were inclined in favor of Mikhailovich's insanity. However, they then changed their minds, stating that at the time of the murder Mihailovic was fully aware of his actions.

Based on their conclusion, the Supreme Court declared the defendant sane. A panel of five judges issued a final verdict on Thursday, overturning the appeal court's decision and sentencing Mihailovic to life imprisonment. According to Reuters , the verdict is final and cannot be appealed further. Nevertheless, Mihailovic's lawyer, Michael Nilsson, told reporters that he intends to at least achieve the transfer of his client to the authorities of Serbia-Montenegro (former Yugoslavia), where his parents lived.