Lindh killer’s life sentence thrown out

A SWEDISH appeals court threw out a life prison sentence for the convicted killer of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, ruling that Mijailo Mijailovic should receive psychiatric treatment.

In a unanimous ruling by the Svea Court of Appeal, a panel of five judges said it was clear from the testimony of mental health experts that Mijailovic suffered from “borderline personality disorders.”

The ruling was a victory for Mijailovic’s lawyer, Peter Althin, who argued the 25-year-old - under the influence of a cocktail of antidepressants when he stabbed Ms Lindh - didn’t intend to kill her when he saw her in the store.

Chief prosecutor Agneta Blidberg said she accepted the verdict, but didn’t say if she would appeal to the Supreme Court.

Mijailovic admitted stabbing Ms Lindh and was convicted of murder in March by a lower court that sentenced him to life in prison. Mr Althin appealed, maintaining it was voices in Mijailovic’s head, including Jesus, who told him to stab Lindh on September 10.

The mother-of-two, tipped as the country’s next prime minister, died the next day from several stab wounds, including one that pierced her liver, plunging the country into mourning and stirring memories of the unsolved 1986 killing of Prime Minister Olof Palme.

While the court agreed that Mijailovic needs treatment, it didn’t accept the argument that he wasn’t aware of what he was doing when he stabbed Lindh.

“It is clear that Mijailovic, especially after the knife attack against Anna Lindh, acted very rationally and coolly,” the court said in its ruling. “Even so, if Mijailovic ‘heard voices’ at the time, clearly he was not governed by them.”

During the appeals hearing in June, two psychiatrists gave the court differing opinions of Mijailovic’s mental state.

Anders Forsman, an expert with the National Board of Health, claimed Mijailovic was seriously mentally ill.

Eva Marie Lauren, who led the psychiatric review during the lower court trial, agreed that he was psychologically disturbed, but argued he was cognisant of his actions and should have been sent to prison.

Mijailovic will be moved to the forensic psychiatry ward at the Huddinge hospital for analysis.

There a decision will be made where he will spend the rest of his confinement, which could last a lifetime.

The court also rejected a request from Lindh’s two children that Mijailovic pay them civil damages of $15,000 each.