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LANDSKRONA

Local firms offer reward over car park killing

A reward of 60,000 kronor ($8,500) has been offered by a group of Landskrona businesses in response to the brutal parking lot assault which led to the death of an elderly woman.

Local firms offer reward over car park killing

Despite the fact that there were several witnesses to the attack on an elderly couple in the car park of the local Hemköp supermarket in the southern Sweden town, police have not yet been able to identify any suspects, local newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad reports.

A 36-year-old man, who was in the car park at the time of the fatal assault, has however been taken in for questioning.

“His information is important for the investigation, but he is not suspected of any offence,” Göran Hassel at Skåne police told news agency TT on Thursday.

The man was released by police after six hours of questioning at 8pm on Wednesday.

The 78-year-old woman died from her injuries at Skåne University Hospital in Lund on Wednesday with relatives consenting to end her treatment after doctors said they were powerless to restore her to health.

Police remain confident that the crime will be solved and confirm that they are continuing to receive tips and information.

The group of local business people hope that their move will help to speed up the police investigation.

“We are all upset and angry over this assault. Sure there are reactions to other violent crimes also, but this was so brutal, and directed against defenceless pensioners,” said Staffan Aronsson, CEO of Basmetal AB, to the newspaper.

Aronsson added that the massive national media interest in the case is not good public relations for Landskrona.

“But we primarily want the person that has done this to be brought to justice,” he said.

The 78-year-old woman lost consciousness after she was punched in the face after trying to intervene on behalf of her 71-year-old partner who was being attacked by a man in a parking dispute.

After surgery at a neurological surgery unit in nearby Lund, her condition improved slightly before worsening again on Tuesday afternoon. She died in her hospital bed at around 4pm on Wednesday.

The assailant is reported to be in his twenties and left the scene in a small red car.

Police have made a public call for information to their 114 14 hotline.

LANDSKRONA

Court slashes sentence in ‘honour killing’ case

A Swedish appeals court has reduced a lower court's eight-year prison sentence for a 17-year-old boy found of guilty fatally stabbing his sister more than 100 times after she fled a forced marriage in Iraq, in what the court referred to as an "honour killing".

Court slashes sentence in 'honour killing' case

In a ruling issued on Tuesday, the Malmö Court of Appeals (Hövrätten), upheld the teen’s guilty verdict, but discarded the lower court’s eight-year prison sentence.

The court instead sentenced the boy to four years in juvenile detention because he was 16 when he killed his sister.

As the boy was only days away from his 17th birthday at the time of the attack, the lower court had decided to punish him as a 17-year-old rather than as a 16-year-old, allowing for a longer prison sentence.

The appeals court verdict stated that had the the crime been committed by an adult, it would have warranted a sentence of life in prison.

The appeals court’s verdict also confirmed that there was enough evidence to tie the teen to the murder, restating that the apparent motive was the notion of protecting the family’s honour.

The 17-year-old’s sister had previously fled a forced marriage in Iraq and returned to Sweden. Her body was found with multiple stab wounds in her Landskrona apartment in April 2012.

Representatives of the Malmö-based organization Tänk om, which works to stop honour crimes, told local media at the time that the woman had been in touch with them for one year since returning to Sweden and that she slept with a knife under her pillow for fear of reprisals over her escape.

They claimed local authorities had ignored their warnings that the woman was under threat and needed protection.

After being found guilty in district court, the victim’s brother appealed his sentence and argued he should be set free.

Upon learning of the verdict, attorney Elisabeth Massi Fritz, who represented the victim’s sister, claimed the question of sentencing for violent crimes committed by young people should be tried in the Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen).

“You have to look at what sort of murder we’re dealing with. There are a number of complicating circumstances,” she told the TT news agency.

She added, however, that she was happy that the appeals court had confirmed the “honour” motive for the killing, seeing the verdict as a sign that the Swedish courts are starting to deal with a matter facing many young people in Sweden.

“I’m even more pleased considering all of those who have actually been victims of honour crimes,” she said.

TT/The Local/at

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