Lindh killer jail term overturned

Lindh killer jail term overturned

The Swedish high court has ruled that the killer of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh is mentally ill and needs treatment instead of jail.

Thursday's ruling overturned the life imprisonment sentence imposed on Mijailo Mijailovic by a lower court in March. It did not say how long the 26-year-old should stay in a mental institution.

Mijailovic's lawyer had appealed the life sentence by recruiting psychiatrists to examine his client's state of mind after initial mental checks found him sane enough to be jailed.

A new evaluation declared Mijailovic mentally ill and recommended psychiatric treatment instead of imprisonment.

The ruling by the judges was unanimous, and said there was "massive support for the assessment that Maijailo Mijailovic is suffering from a psychiatric disorder."

The judges said the testimony by the various mental health experts showed Mijailovic suffered from "borderline personality disorder."

The court said Mijailovic had acted on an impulse when he attacked Lindh.

"No motive for the deed has emerged and in the opinion of the high court it is also unclear to what extent the deed was planned," the court said.

The first examination, which served as a basis for the lower court's March 23 verdict in favor of the prosecutor, found Mijailovic sane enough to go to jail.

He declined to testify during the murder trial. He had earlier admitted stabbing Lindh in a Stockholm department store but denied intent to kill.

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

Sourcve: Agencies