Anna Lindh | |
|---|---|
 Lindh in 2002 | |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 7 October 1998 – 11 September 2003 | |
| Prime Minister | Göran Persson |
| Preceded by | Lena Hjelm-Wallén |
| Succeeded by | Jan O. Karlsson (Acting) |
| Minister for the Environment | |
| In office 7 October 1994 – 7 October 1998 | |
| Prime Minister | Ingvar Carlsson Göran Persson |
| Preceded by | Olof Johansson |
| Succeeded by | Kjell Larsson |
| Member of the Riksdag | |
| In office 20 September 1998 – 11 September 2003 | |
| In office 19 September 1982 – 15 September 1985 | |
| Constituency | Södermanland County |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ylva Anna Maria Lindh (1957-06-19)19 June 1957 Stockholm,Sweden |
| Died | 11 September 2003(2003-09-11) (aged 46) Stockholm, Sweden |
| Manner of death | Assassination by stabbing |
| Resting place | Katarina Church, Stockholm |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Uppsala University |
Ylva Anna Maria Lindh (19 June 1957 – 11 September 2003) was a Swedish politician and lawyer. A member of theSwedish Social Democratic Party, she served asMinister for Foreign Affairs from 1998 until her death. She was also aMember of the Riksdag (member of parliament) forSödermanland County until her assassination.
On 10 September 2003, four days before a referendum on replacing theSwedish krona with theeuro as currency, Lindh was stabbed byMijailo Mijailović at theNK department store in centralStockholm; she died the next morning atKarolinska University Hospital. She had been seen as a likely candidate to succeedGöran Persson as Social Democratic party leader.
Her greatest commitment was to international cooperation and solidarity, as well as to environmental issues. She worked on these issues throughout her career, serving as Environment Minister from 1994 to 1998, and then as Foreign Minister for the last five years of her life.
Ylva Anna Maria Lindh was born to Staffan (1931–2017), an artist, and Nancy Lindh (1932–2005), a schoolteacher, inEnskede-Årsta, a suburb southeast ofStockholm.[1][2][3] She grew up inEnköping. At age 12, she became involved in politics after joining a local branch of theSwedish Social Democratic Youth League, becoming its district chairman when she was 13.[1] She took part in the Swedish movement against theVietnam War.[4]
Lindh studied atUppsala University, graduating in 1982 as aCandidate of Law (jur. kand.). The same year, she won election as aMember of the Riksdag (MP) forSödermanland County.[5] In 1984, she became the first woman chairperson of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League.[1] Her six years as president were marked by a commitment to international affairs (including Nicaragua, Vietnam, South Africa and Palestine) and against thearms race which characterized theCold War.
Lindh served in theRiksdag from 1982 until 1985, and again from 1998 until her death in 2003. From 1991 to 1994, she was Commissioner of Culture and Environment and the Deputy Mayor ofStockholm.[6][7] In 1994, after aSocial Democratic victory in the election of that year,Prime MinisterIngvar Carlsson appointed her to his cabinet asMinister for the Environment.[7] One of Lindh's legacies was her pioneering work towardsEuropean Union legislation onhazardous chemical substances. She also called for the establishment of a common EU strategy againstacid rain.
After the1998 election, Prime MinisterGöran Persson appointed Lindh to succeedLena Hjelm-Wallén asMinister for Foreign Affairs in the new government.[8] Having made influential friends around the world as president of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League, Lindh ardently supported international cooperation through theUnited Nations and in the European Union.[9]
A high point in her career occurred during the Swedishpresidency of the European Union in early 2001. Lindh served as chairman of theCouncil of the European Union, responsible for representing the official foreign policy position of the European Union. Travelling with European Union Foreign and Security Policy SpokesmanJavier Solana inNorth Macedonia, during the Kosovo-Macedonian crisis, she negotiated an agreement which averted a civil war in the country.[1]
Another talking point in her career was the violentrepatriation of Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery from Sweden toEgypt, an operation carried out by theUS military. According to a 2009 book published by journalist and friend of Lindh Eva Franchell, Göran Persson claimed the US administration would place a trade embargo on the European Union if Sweden did not let the Americans pick up Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery on Swedish soil.[10] Persson publicly denied this claim following the book's publication.[11] Lindh had to choose between standing up for human rights and supporting trade relations with the US. She chose the latter and was later extensively criticised for her actions.[citation needed] On 24 May 2004, when the committee against torture at the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights found that theGovernment of Sweden had violated its obligations under the Convention against torture in the forced repatriation of Agiza, Lindh had already been murdered.
Lindh criticised the2003 invasion of Iraq, saying that:
A war being fought without support in the statutes of the United Nations is a major failure.
However, Lindh praised the fall ofSaddam Hussein. She advocated greater respect for international law and human rights in theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, criticisingAriel Sharon's Israeli government, but also condemningPalestiniansuicide bombings as "atrocities". She argued strongly for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories; in an interview shortly before her death she said:
Israeli settlement in the West Bank must go; there must be a Palestinian state; Israel must vacate all occupied areas on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and end all extra-territorial executions and attacks on Palestinians.[5]
During the final weeks of her life, she was involved in the pro-euro campaign, where she advocated forSweden to become a member of theEurozone. She led the yes campaign in thereferendum. The referendum was held on 14 September 2003 (three days after her death). As a popular pro-euro politician, she was a spokesperson and chair for the yes campaign; her face was on billboards across Sweden the day she was murdered.[5][12]
Lindh marriedBo Holmberg in 1991. Holmberg wasGovernor of Södermanland (her home constituency for over 20 years). The couple had two sons, Filip and David.[5]
On 10 September 2003, while shopping in the ladies' section of theNordiska Kompaniet department store in central Stockholm for a televised debate later that night on thereferendum 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 theSwedish Security Service; this proved controversial, given the similarity between Lindh's murder andthat of Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986 (the first murder of a government member in modern Swedish history).[13]
She was rushed toKarolinska 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.[14]
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.[15] 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.[16][17]
A man was apprehended on 16 September and detained as a suspect on "reasonable grounds" (the lowest level of suspicion),[18] but was released a week later without charge.[19] On 24 September, the police announced that a suspect had been apprehended and arrested at a higher level of suspicion: "probable cause".[19] He was subsequently identified asMijailo Mijailović (born in Sweden to Serb parents). It was announced that Mijailović'sDNA profile matched that of hairs on a baseball cap left at (or near) the scene of the crime, and he resembled the man filmed in the store where Lindh was attacked.[20]
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 lawyerPeter Althin stated that it was a "random act" and not politically motivated.[21][22] He was found guilty in a trial held from 14 to 17 January 2004. After a psychiatric evaluation he was sentenced tolife imprisonment on 23 March.[23] 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 apsychiatric ward.[24] Prosecutors appealed to theSupreme Court of Sweden, which reinstated his sentence to life imprisonment on 2 December of that year.[25] Mijailović renounced his Swedish citizenship, and has unsuccessfully requested to be transferred to Serbia.[citation needed]
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 toLiberal People's Party leaderLars 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.[26] In a 2011 interview with the newspaperExpressen, 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.[27] Mijailović has received counselling and other support services since his imprisonment.
Lindh was an outspoken campaigner for Sweden to join theEurozone 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 thepublic broadcasting channels ofSveriges Television report news.
In a meeting on 12 September between Prime Minister Göran Persson and the leaders of the other political parties in theRiksdag, 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.[28] Following her death, Junior Foreign Affairs MinisterJan O. Karlsson was appointed acting Minister for Foreign Affairs.[29] In October of that year,Laila Freivalds was appointed the successor to Lindh's cabinet post.[30]
Several commemorative gatherings were held for Lindh throughout Sweden and through theChurch of Sweden Abroad on 12 and 13 September. One gathering in the centre of Stockholm attracted tens of thousands of mourners.[31] A more formal commemoration was held atStockholm City Hall on 19 September, at whichKing of SwedenCarl XVI Gustaf, Prime Minister Göran Persson,Chris Patten,Margot Wallström,European commissioners and the Swedish-speaking Greek Foreign MinisterGeorge Papandreou spoke.U.S. Secretary of StateColin Powell was unable to attend due to travel difficulties, but sent condolences. Lindh was buried privately on 20 September at the Church ofErsta [sv] in Stockholm;[32] her grave is in the cemetery of nearbyKatarina Church. Thousands of roses and candles were placed atRosenbad 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.[citation needed]
In April 2004, Lindh posthumously received the "Statesman of the Year Award" from theEastWest Institute, a trans-Atlanticthink tank that organizes an annual security conference inBrussels. Room 50.4 on the fifth floor of the Justus LipsiusEuropean Council building in Brussels was named the Anna Lindh Room in her honour, and committee room 1A 002 in thePaul Henri Spaak building of theEuropean Parliament in Brussels named the Anna Lindh Room in her memory.[citation needed]
The Anna Lindh Professorship of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at theHarvard Kennedy School atHarvard University, was established in her honour. Human rights advocateSamantha Power was the inaugural appointee in 2006.[33] The library at theSwedish 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.[34]
The Anna Lindh Memorial Fund (Swedish:Anna Lindhs Minnesfond) 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."[35] The prize carries an award ofSEK 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.[36] Laureates are:Amira Hass, journalist (Israel, 2004);Tostan and Anna Lindh Association (Senegal, 2005); Tatsiana Revjaka (Belarus, 2006);Khin Ohmar (Myanmar 2008);[37]Mohamed Nasheed (Maldives, 2009); Jean Zaru (Palestine, 2010)[38][39][40] Centre for Liberian Assistance (Liberia, 2011);[41] Center for Roma Initiatives (Montenegro, 2012);[42]Madeleine Albright (United States, 2013);[43][44]Leslee Udwin (United Kingdom, 2015);[45][46]Svitlana Zalishchuk (Ukraine, 2016)[47] andMina Dennert (Sweden, 2017).[48]
Media related toAnna Lindh at Wikimedia Commons| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Swedish Minister for the Environment 1994–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs 1998–2003 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
