On 10 September 2003, while shopping in the ladies' section of the
Nordiska Kompaniet department store in central Stockholm for a televised debate later that night on the
referendum about Sweden's adoption of the euro, Lindh was stabbed in the chest, abdomen and arms. At the time, she was not protected by bodyguards from the
Swedish Security Service; this proved controversial, given the similarity between Lindh's murder and
that of Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986 (the first murder of a government member in modern Swedish history). She was rushed to
Karolinska University Hospital, where she underwent surgery and blood transfusions for over nine hours. Lindh reportedly experienced severe internal bleeding and liver damage; her condition remained grave, although she appeared to have improved immediately after the surgery. An hour later, however, complications necessitated additional surgery; at 05:29 on 11 September 2003, she was pronounced dead. After a private briefing of her relatives and the government (and contradicting news coverage that she was alive in "grave" but "stable" condition), the announcement of her death made headlines across the European Union.
Criminal investigation The murderer escaped after the crime; according to eyewitness accounts, his actions appeared deliberate and systematic. A phone number was set up for anyone who might know anything about the crime, and a massive manhunt (centred on Stockholm) was launched in Sweden. After two days, a photo of a man believed to be the murderer, taken by a camera on a floor above the murder scene, was leaked by Swedish newspapers. Several items (pieces of clothing and a knife) believed to be connected with the murder were found outside the department store near a Stockholm metro station. At the crime scene, police obtained a handprint believed to be the killer's. Images of the suspect from the store's surveillance system were released by police and published on 13 and 14 September. A man was apprehended on 16 September and detained as a suspect on "reasonable grounds" (the lowest level of suspicion), but was released a week later without charge. On 24 September, the police announced that a suspect had been apprehended and arrested at a higher level of suspicion: "
probable cause". After denying all involvement, Mijailović confessed to the crime on 6 January 2004, providing a full account of the events of 10 September during police questioning; his lawyer
Peter Althin stated that it was a "random act" and not politically motivated. He was found guilty in a trial held from 14 to 17 January 2004. After a psychiatric evaluation he was sentenced to
life imprisonment on 23 March. On 8 July, an appeals court overturned Mijailović's sentence (after tests concluded he was mentally ill at the time of the murder), and recommended he be transferred to a
psychiatric ward. Prosecutors appealed to the
Supreme Court of Sweden, which reinstated his sentence to life imprisonment on 2 December of that year. Mijailović renounced his Swedish citizenship, and has unsuccessfully requested to be transferred to Serbia. Despite Lindh's popularity and the timing of the assassination, the murder was not considered a political act (although a newspaper found a picture of Mijailović listening to
Liberal People's Party leader
Lars Leijonborg in clothing similar to what he wore during the murder). Mijailović admitted that he found the speech "entertaining", but denied allegations that it influenced his actions. In a 2011 interview with the newspaper
Expressen, Mijailović said he had "felt hatred of [all] politicians" at the time, he had been high on a hypnotic drug at the time, and it was "a coincidence" that his victim had been Lindh. Mijailović has received counselling and other support services since his imprisonment.
Reaction and legacy Lindh was an outspoken campaigner for Sweden to join the
Eurozone in the referendum held on 14 September 2003. After the attack, all euro-campaign events were immediately cancelled. Television campaign advertisements were withdrawn, and all TV stations in Sweden halted commercials from the evening of the 10th through the 11th to help the
public broadcasting channels of
Sveriges Television report news. In a meeting on 12 September between Prime Minister Göran Persson and the leaders of the other political parties in the
Riksdag, it was decided that information and resources on the referendum's issues would remain fully available but no further political campaigning or debate would take place. Party leaders unanimously pledged support for the ballot as planned and to abide by its result. Despite speculation that sympathy for Lindh could influence voting, the referendum rejected the euro. Following her death, Junior Foreign Affairs Minister
Jan O. Karlsson was appointed acting Minister for Foreign Affairs. In October of that year,
Laila Freivalds was appointed the successor to Lindh's cabinet post. Several commemorative gatherings were held for Lindh throughout Sweden and through the
Church of Sweden Abroad on 12 and 13 September. One gathering in the centre of Stockholm attracted tens of thousands of mourners. A more formal commemoration was held at
Stockholm City Hall on 19 September, at which
King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf, Prime Minister Göran Persson,
Chris Patten,
Margot Wallström,
European commissioners and the Swedish-speaking Greek Foreign Minister
George Papandreou spoke.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was unable to attend due to travel difficulties, but sent condolences. Lindh was buried privately on 20 September at the Church of in Stockholm; her grave is in the cemetery of nearby
Katarina Church. Thousands of roses and candles were placed at
Rosenbad and outside the store where she was murdered. Abroad, hundreds of thousands of flowers and candles were left at Swedish embassies and consulates by mourners. In April 2004, Lindh posthumously received the "Statesman of the Year Award" from the
EastWest Institute, a trans-Atlantic
think tank that organizes an annual security conference in
Brussels. Room 50.4 on the fifth floor of the Justus Lipsius
European Council building in Brussels was named the Anna Lindh Room in her honour, and committee room 1A 002 in the
Paul Henri Spaak building of the
European Parliament in Brussels named the Anna Lindh Room in her memory. The Anna Lindh Professorship of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at the
Harvard Kennedy School at
Harvard University, was established in her honour. Human rights advocate
Samantha Power was the inaugural appointee in 2006. The library at the
Swedish National Defence College (
Försvarshögskolan) is known as the Anna Lindh Library in her memory. On 11 September 2013, the tenth anniversary of Lindh's death was commemorated in Sweden. The Anna Lindh Memorial Fund () gives an annual award, the Anna Lindh Prize, to a person or institution with "the courage to fight indifference, prejudice, oppression and injustices in order to promote a good life for all people in an environment marked by respect for human rights." The prize carries an award of
SEK 150,000. In addition, the fund makes grants, which "aim to encourage projects in Anna Lindh's spirit", of SEK 25,000 to Swedish individuals. Laureates are:
Amira Hass, journalist (Israel, 2004);
Tostan and Anna Lindh Association (Senegal, 2005); Tatsiana Revjaka (Belarus, 2006);
Khin Ohmar (Myanmar 2008);
Mohamed Nasheed (Maldives, 2009); Jean Zaru (Palestine, 2010) Centre for Liberian Assistance (Liberia, 2011); Center for Roma Initiatives (Montenegro, 2012);
Madeleine Albright (United States, 2013);
Leslee Udwin (United Kingdom, 2015);
Svitlana Zalishchuk (Ukraine, 2016) and
Mina Dennert (Sweden, 2017). == See also ==