Thomas Bodström | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Bodström in 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister for Justice | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 11 October 2000 – 6 October 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Göran Persson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Laila Freivalds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Beatrice Ask | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | Thomas Lennart Bodström (1962-04-09)9 April 1962 (age 63) Uppsala, Sweden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Social Democratic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alma mater | Stockholm University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Thomas Lennart Bodström (born 9 April 1962) is a Swedish former politician of theSwedish Social Democratic Party. He served as the SwedishMinister for Justice in the two governments of Prime MinisterGöran Persson, from 2000 to 2006. Prior to politics he had a career inassociation football, representingAllsvenskan sideAIK between 1987 and 1989.
Bodström played professional football in the 1980s as adefender and representedAllsvenskan clubAIK between 1987 and 1989, making a total of 48 league appearances and scoring three goals for the club.[3] Prior to representing AIK, he also played forSpånga IS andEnköpings SK FK.[3]
In 1990, Bodström graduated fromStockholm University with a Degree of Master of Laws, LL.M. After that, he worked as a lawyer for ten years. During his career, he took interest in international affairs, and in 1999, he joined the board of the Swedish branch of the international organisationLawyers Without Borders.
However, when Prime MinisterGöran Persson announced his new cabinet appointment on 11 October 2000, Bodström was a completely unknown face to most of the political journalists attending the press conference. At the time, he was not even a member of the Social Democratic Party. Although Bodström was a newcomer to national politics, he remained in his post until 2006 in two Persson cabinets, surviving calls for his resignation after several high-profile prison breaks during summer 2004. During his term in office, Bodström was heavily criticized by advocates of privacy and liberal think tanks,[4] for acting to give the police the opportunity to monitor those who might be involved in minor crimes, as well as other things they argued were intrusive to privacy. He has written a book,700 dagar i Rosenbad (700 days inRosenbad), about his experiences as a newcomer in the government.
From October 2006 until October 2010, he was the chairman of theRiksdag committee for judicial issues. When the new parliament was elected in 2010, Bodström lost his position as a committee chairman. Shortly after that, he requested half-time leave of absence from his seat in parliament, combined with half-time parental leave, in order to relocate to the United States with his family. His part-time parental leave was already granted from theSwedish Social Insurance Administration, but his request for leave of absence was denied by the Social Democratic group leader in the parliament, and Bodström thus resigned his seat in the Parliament.[5]
Since mid-2011, Bodström has been an expert commentator on law on the crime reality TV showEfterlyst onTV3.[6]
At the time of his appointment, Bodström revealed in an interview that he had usedhashish in his youth, and also, that he on several occasions had employed a person in his home without paying the appropriate taxes.[7]
On 23 August 2010, during an interview by Swedish Radio, in light of the current drug testing debate, the reporter asked Bodström if he was willing to participate in a drug test. Bodström at first agreed, but when the nurse explained that he would be tested foramphetamines,hashish,opiates, andbenzodiazepines, he changed his mind, and said, "I don't feel like doing it now. I am sweating too much."[8] ThePirate Party defended his right not to take the test in reference to their views on privacy.[9]
Thomas Bodström is the son ofLennart Bodström, who wasSwedish Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1982 to 1985 in theOlof Palme government.
| Club | Season | Division | League | Svenska Cupen | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| AIK | 1987 | Allsvenskan | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||
| 1988 | Allsvenskan | 15 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | ||||
| 1989 | Allsvenskan | 18 | 2 | — | 18 | 2 | ||||
| Career total | 48 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 53 | 3 | |||
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Minister for Justice 2000–2006 | Succeeded by |
