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THOMAS QUICK

CRIME

Justice ministry working on Thomas Quick review

Sweden's justice minister has ordered a structural review to find out how the judiciary first felled then cleared "serial killer" Thomas Quick of eight murders, in the landmark legal case which took a final twist on Wednesday.

Published: 31 July 2013 16:12 CEST
Justice ministry working on Thomas Quick review

“It’s a very unique decision,” Justice Minister Beatrice Ask said upon news that the Swedish prosecutor’s office had decided to drop the eighth and final murder charge against Thomas Quick, who nowadays goes under the name Sture Bergwall.

“It is rare in Swedish judiciary history and it is serious that someone has been convicted of so many serious crimes and then been cleared,” she told the TT news agency.

Her ministry has set about trying to find how the two-decade long drama came about. Her staff are looking at drafting directives on to structure a proper review of the case.

“The review will investigate partly how the judiciary acted, and partly whether there are structural weaknesses,” Ask said.

She reiterated the chief prosecutor’s view that it would probably be impossible to hold a single person accountable for the palaver.

“We don’t have reviews that aim to judge people. We have rules, we have statutes of limitations. We have to keep to basic principles about how to find out whether people have acted correctly or incorrectly,” Ask said.

TT/The Local/at

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POLITICS

Over a thousand people join protest against Stockholm attack

Over a thousand people joined a demonstration in Gubbängen, southern Stockholm, on Saturday, protesting Wednesday's attack by far-right extremists on a lecture organised by the Left and Green parties.

Published: 27 April 2024 15:36 CEST
Over a thousand people join protest against Stockholm attack

The demonstration, which was organised by the Left Party and the Green Party together with Expo, an anti-extremist magazine, was held outside the Moment theatre, where masked assailants attacked a lecture organised by the two parties on Wednesday. 

In the attack, the assailants – described as Nazis by Expo – let off smoke grenades and assaulted several people, three of whom were hospitalised. 

“Let’s say it how it is: this was a terror attack and that is something we can never accept,” said Amanda Lind, who is expected to be voted in as the joint leader of the Green Party on Sunday. 

She said that those who had attended the lecture had hoped to swap ideas about how to combat racism. 

“Instead they had to experience smoke bombs, assault and were forced to think ‘have they got weapons’?. The goal of this attack was to use violence to generate fear and silence people,” she said.  

EXPLAINED: What we know about the attack on a Swedish anti-fascist meeting

More than a thousand people gathered to protest the attack on a theatre in Gubbängen, Stockholm. Photo: Oscar Olsson/TT

Nooshi Dadgostar, leader of the Left Party, said that that society needed to stand up against this type of extreme-right violence. 

“We’re here today to show that which should be obvious: we will not give up, we will stand up for ourselves, and we shall never be silenced by racist violence,” said said.

Sofia Zwahlen, one of the protesters at the demonstration, told the DN newspaper that it felt positive that so many had turned up to show their opposition to the attacks. 

“It feels extremely good that there’s been this reaction, that we are coming together. I’m always a little worried about going to this sort of demonstration. But this feels safe.”

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