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CRIME

Örebro rape suspect detained for 14 assaults

A 24-year-old suspect who has been detained since October for probable cause for 10 assaults against women in Örebro was remanded in custody on Tuesday for four additional crimes.

Örebro rape suspect detained for 14 assaults
Egnahemsgatan in Örebro, where a man is suspected of raping a 64-year-old woman

He is now in detention for a total of 14 assaults against women, Örebro district court announced on Tuesday. If he is convicted for all of the crimes, he would become the worst serial rapist in Sweden’s history.

The man has admitted to the new offences: attempted rape in 2005, attempted robbery in 2008 and assault and sexual molestation, as well as a separate count of sexual molestation, in October 2010.

Although he admitted to the new offenses, he objected to the previous classification of the attempted robbery as an attempted rape in connection with an assault in Örebro’s Varberga district.

He admitted that his intention was to try to rob the woman, which the district court accepted. As a result, the charge was changed to attempted robbery.

“The man told the court about his actions, but he could not explain why he did what he did,” deputy chief prosecutor Pia Åsberg told news agency TT on Tuesday.

She believes that the man will not be suspected of more crimes.

“It stands at 14 crimes, but I am not entirely sure,” she added.

Lawyer Margaret Arvidsson, who is defending the suspect, said her client felt an internal compulsion when he committed his crimes.

“He had conflicting emotions. He felt that he had to commit the crime and at the same time, that he should not do it,” she explained.

According to Arvidsson, the suspect is fairing well, but is considered the restrictive conditions of his detention as quite difficult.

Åsberg estimated that she will be able to formally charge the suspect in mid-February.

According to Åsberg, there are no plans to question him about additional crimes. The charges will be filed on February 7th, but the investigation will probably not be completed by then.

A number of media outlets were present at Örebro district court on Tuesday afternoon for a separate hearing for the suspect in the murder and dismemberment of an Örebro University professor whose body was found on Monday.

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STRIKES

Swedish appeals court throws out Tesla licence plate complaint

A Swedish appeals court rejected Tesla's attempt to force the Transport Agency to provide them with licence plates during an ongoing strike.

Swedish appeals court throws out Tesla licence plate complaint

The Göta Court of Appeal upheld a decision by the district court to throw out a request by US car manufacturer Tesla to force the Swedish Transport Agency to provide them with licence plates, on the grounds that a general court does not have jurisdiction in this case.

The district court and court of appeal argued that Tesla should instead have taken its complaint to an administrative court (förvaltningsdomstol) rather than a general court (allmän domstol).

According to the rules regulating the Transport Agency’s role in issuing licence plates in Sweden, their decisions should be appealed to an administrative court – a separate part of the court system which tries cases involving a Swedish public authority, rather than criminal cases or disputes between individuals which are tried by the general courts.

The dispute arose after postal service Postnord, in solidarity with a major strike by the Swedish metalworkers’ union, refused to deliver licence plates to Tesla, and the Transport Agency argued it wasn’t their responsibility to get the plates to Tesla in some other way.

The strike against Tesla has been going on for almost seven months.

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