Anna Lindh

From Wikinfo

Anna Lindh, (June 19, 1957 - September 11, 2003), was a Swedish politician, Minister for the Environment (1994-1998) and Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Swedish Government, from 1998 until her death.

She was born at Enskede in Stockholm, and graduated from the Faculty of Law at Uppsala University in 1982. Member of Parliament in 1982-1985 and from 1998, for the Social Democrats, Deputy Mayor of Stockholm 1991-1994, Minister for the Environment 1994-1998. Following the general election in 1998 she succeeded [[Lena Hjelm-Wall�n]] as Minister for Foreign Affairs, in the new Government. A high point in her career came during the Swedish Presidency of the European Union during the first half of 2001, when she was Chairman for the Council of the European Union, which carried the responsibilities of representing the official foreign policy position for the European Union as a whole.

Anna Lindh was generally seen as the prime candidate to succeed [[G�ran Persson]] as Chairman for the Social Democrats, and as Prime Minister of Sweden. She was married to Bo Holmberg, the Governor of [[S�dermanland (county)|S�dermanland]], with whom she had two sons, named David and Filip.

Assassination

Anna Lindh died on the early morning of September 11, 2003, following a knife attack in Stockholm on the afternoon of September 10. Just after 4 pm she was attacked while shopping at the Nordiska Kompaniet department store. She was stabbed in the chest, stomach and arms. Following the assault she was rushed to the Karolinska Hospital where she underwent surgery for over nine hours, receiving blood transfusions continually during the operation. Reportedly she suffered copious internal bleeding, her liver was seriously damaged, and her medical situation remained grave, even though at first it appeared to have improved after the surgery. One hour after concluding the initial nine-hour surgery, complications forced resumption of surgery. At 5.29 local time all attempts to save her life had been exhausted and Anna Lindh was pronounced dead.

The killer was able to escape after the crime. According to eyewitness accounts his actions appeared deliberate and systematic. The pale-skinned, brown-haired 30-40-year-old male murderer or assassin remains at large according to police sources. A phone number was set up for anyone who might know anything about the crime, and a massive manhunt was launched in Sweden, centering on Stockholm. After two days, a very interesting image believed to be the assassin was released by the police. This image was taken by a camera on a floor above the scene of the murder.

Following the attack, the assailant was able to escape from the scene of the crime. A few items, pieces of clothing and a knife, believed to be connected with the murder were found out side the department store, in the vicinity of a subway station. At the scene of the crime the Police were able to secure a handprint, also believed to be connected to the killer. Following the publication of images, from the surveillance system of the department store, showing the suspect, on September 13 and 14, information was gathered that ultimately led to the issuing of an arrest warrant late on September 15. At about 9 PM local time, September 16 the prime suspect was apprehended outside the [[R�sunda Stadium]], in Solna. In accordance with the general practices of Swedish media, the name of the suspect has not been revieled. According to other sources the man in custody is supposedly identical to one Per-Olof Svensson.

Anna Lindh was the second prominent Swedish politician to have been assassinated in the past decades, and the third since the early 19th century. Prime Minister Olof Palme was gunned down in 1986 by an unidentified assailant.

Reaction

Anna Lindh was an outspoken campaigner for Sweden to join the Euro in the referendum held on the Sunday of September 14. Following the attack, all Euro-campaign events, for both the yes and no camps, were immediately cancelled. Television campaign commercials were withdrawn from broadcasting, all campaign advertising on billboards was to be removed, advertising in printed media cancelled, etc. The assassination was widely interpreted as an attack on the free and open society that is a hallmark for Sweden and that this was a time for unity rather than political campaigning.

Following a meeting, held at midday September 11, with Prime Minister G�ran Persson and the leaders of the other political parties in the Riksdag, the decision was taken not to let the assassination affect the schedule of the referendum. Information and resources on the issues of the referendum will be fully availiable but no political campaigning or argumentation is to take place. The party leaders unanimously pledged support for holding the ballot as planned and to respect and abide by the outcome.

A government press conference announced that Jan O. Karlsson, current Minister for Migration and already working in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, will be assuming the responsibilities as the acting foreign minister and head of the ministry.

See also: Government of Sweden, List of Swedish politicians

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Anna Lindh" http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Lindh September 18, 2003