Swedish court rules Lindh killer mentally ill

A Swedish appeals court has ruled that Mijailo Mijailovic, the convicted killer of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, should receive psychiatric care and not face life in prison.

The ruling, which came after three days of hearings and presentations by prosecutors and Mijailovic’s defence lawyer, said he was guilty of the stabbing of the popular politician, a mother of two who was widely tipped to be the country’s next prime minister.

But, the court in Stockholm ruled it was clear that Mijailovic, aged 25, was mentally ill at the time of the attack on Lindh.

She was shopping in a crowded department store on September 20 without any bodyguards when she was attacked.

She died the next day from several stab wounds, including one that pierced her liver, plunging the country of nine million into mourning.

With his sentence to psychiatric care, Mijailovic will be moved to the forensic psychiatry ward at the Huddinge hospital for analysis.

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

There was no immediate comment from prosecutors, who sought a decision by the court to keep Mijailovic in prison.

During the appeals hearing, 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 Mijailovic was psychologically disturbed.

She said he was aware of his actions and should have been sent to prison.