Olof Palme murder: Sweden identifies man who killed PM in 1986
Source: BBC
They identified the suspect as Stig Engstrom, also known as "Skandia Man", who killed himself in 2000.
...
Mr Petersson said Stig Engstrom had not initially been a focus for the investigation, but when investigators looked into his background they found he was accustomed to using weapons, having been in the army, and was a member of a shooting club.
In his local area he was also part of a circle of critics of Palme's policies and relatives said he had a negative view of the prime minister.
Engstrom had long running financial problems and a growing problem with alcohol, Mr Petersson said.
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-52991406
A petty criminal was convicted of the killing in July 1989 but the judgment was later overturned, clearing the field for decades of speculation about the involvement of forces ranging from the South African security services to the Swedish military, Kurdish separatists and the CIA.
The unsolved assassination, described by the Swedish prime minister, Stefan Löfven, as an open wound, has also left a deep scar on a nation that still sees itself as an open and peaceful society. Sweden is said to have lost its innocence that day.
...
Palme was prime minister between 1969 and 1976 and again between 1982 and 1986. Acknowledged as a great orator, he was vocal in his opposition to the US war in Vietnam, backed communist governments in Cuba and Nicaragua and was fiercely critical of the apartheid regime in South Africa.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/10/olof-palme-murder-swedish-prosecutors-reveal-conclusions
He was their JFK.
BlueMTexpat
(15,369 posts)This was such a tragedy!
TomVilmer
(1,832 posts)Olof Palme was a very much both loved and hated person. His international dream for an international community of alliance-free states was a thorn in the eyes of the big superpowers, and so was Sweden's huge sales of weapons to almost anybody, while claiming to promote peace. Most people therefore believed his murder was an international conspiracy, and many still do after this latest revelation.
The Olof Palme International Center is the umbrella organisation for the Swedish labour movement and works in the spirit of Olof Palme for democracy, human rights and peace. The Swedish labour movement has a long tradition of solidarity and we are proud to keep this tradition alive. Together with our 27 member organisations we cooperate with people and organisations throughout the world, in countries such as Palestine, Serbia, South Africa, the Philippines and Zimbabwe.
https://www.palmecenter.se/en/
Their latest project is to try to make Sweden join the many nations behind The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/
https://www.icanw.org/signature_and_ratification_status
bucolic_frolic
(43,163 posts)the death of Dag Hammarskjöld. He was second Secretary-General of the UN, and the only person awarded a Nobel Peace Prize posthumously. (Until of course, MAGAt Trumpers take up the cause).
KatyMan
(4,190 posts)The Man Who Played With Fire by Jan Stocklassa (review: https://www.npr.org/2019/10/03/766391131/in-the-man-who-played-with-fire-stieg-larsson-is-brought-to-life-again Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Who-Played-Fire-Larssons-ebook/dp/B07NGKD6YL/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=man+who+played+with+fire&qid=1591794555&sr=8-1 ). I read it a year or so ago; I was only aware of Palme's assassination, but that's all I knew about him and the crime. I enjoyed the book.
melm00se
(4,992 posts)as pointed out in another post: he tried to occupy a middle ground between East and West, he supported revolutionary movements and governments, he was a proto-Green but also supported nuclear power. Additionally, he disliked the stock piling of weapons at the expense of the public but all the while Sweden's arms sales began it's second ascent in the mid-1980's