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CRIME

Prominent local politician held in revenge murder plot

Battal Batti, a prominent local Social Democratic politician from Sandvik in east central Sweden, was remanded in custody on Sunday on suspicions of plotting an attempted murder and interference in a judicial matter, according to local media.

Batti is being held for probable cause, which is a higher degree of suspicion.

He is suspected of having ordered his 26-year-old nephew to stab two men in early May in order to settle a dispute with another family, reports the Gefle Dagblad (GD) newspaper.

The suspicions against Batti came to light last Thursday during questioning in a district court where his nephew, along with two other of Batti’s relatives, have been charged with attempted murder.

At the conclusion of the hearing, chief prosecutor Mikael Hammarstrand decided that the politician should be arrested.

Batti denies any wrongdoing, but Hammarstrand said the politician’s behaviour during initial questioning contributed to the decision to keep him in custody.

“Battal Batti doesn’t give a good impression. He is unfocused and would rather talk about something other than what I want to talk about. He has difficulty explaining why a person so close to him would lie,” Hammarstrand said to GD.

Hammarstrand added that there may be technical evidence linking Batti to the crime which he feared the politician might destroy were he to remain free.

The prosecutor refused to elaborate on what the evidence might be, however.

LANDSLIDE

Swedish authorities: Worker negligence behind motorway landslide

Swedish authorities said on Thursday that worker negligence at a construction site was believed to be behind a landslide that tore apart a motorway in western Sweden in September.

Swedish authorities: Worker negligence behind motorway landslide

The landslide, which struck the E6 highway in Stenungsund, 50 kilometres north of Sweden’s second-largest city Gothenburg, ripped up a petrol station car park, overturned lorries and caved in the roof of a fast food restaurant.

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Prosecutor Daniel Veivo Pettersson said on Thursday he believed “human factors” were behind the landslide as “no natural cause” had been found during the investigation.

He told a press conference the landslide had been triggered by a nearby construction site where too much excavated material had been piled up, putting excessive strain on the ground below. 

“At this stage, we consider it negligent, in this case grossly negligent, to have placed so much excavated material on the site,” Pettersson said.

Pettersson added that three people were suspected of among other things gross negligence and causing bodily harm, adding that the investigation was still ongoing.

The worst-hit area covered around 100 metres by 150 metres, but the landslide affected an area of around 700 metres by 200 metres in total, according to emergency services.

Three people were taken to hospital with minor injuries after the collapse, according to authorities.

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