A Swedish Prosecutor has declared the fatal stabbing of a woman at the “Politician Week” event in Visby this month has been upgraded to a terrorist investigation as some report the suspect has alleged neo-Nazi ties.
The Swedish Public Prosecutor’s Office put out a press release this week saying that the investigation into the murder of 64-year-old Ing-Marie Wieselgren, who was stabbed to death while at the Politician Week where she was attending several seminars.
Police later detained 32-year-old Theodor Engström in connection with the fatal stabbing, with some claiming he also has previous ties to the neo-Nazi group Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR), broadcaster SVT reports.
While initially, Engström, who has confessed to the killing, was suspected of murder, the case has now been upgraded to terrorism.
It is unclear whether or not the alleged ties to NMR are relevant to the new classification of the crime as previously Prosecutor Petra Götell stated that Ms Wieselgren was chosen due to her links to psychiatry.
“There are reports that he suffers from mental illness and that he committed the act under the influence of drugs,” Götell said last week and added, “We don’t see the links to NMR at the moment.”
“He’s told me why he’s done what he’s done. It’s aimed at psychiatry, I would say,” Götell told SVT and said, “He understands what he’s done. It is more difficult to answer if he feels remorse.”
The alleged terrorist attack would not be the first linked to individuals who had prior links to NMR in recent years.
In 2017, three men were charged with attempted murder in connection to bombing attacks in Sweden that targeted migrants and leftist groups. the three are said to have been members of the NMR dissatisfied with the group’s reluctance to use violent methods to achieve their political aims.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.