Stockholm - Swedish prosecutors requested on Friday the continued detention of a suspect, arrested earlier this week in connection with the murder of foreign minister Anna Lindh, making his indictment more likely.
Per Olof Svensson "is suspected of murder at NK, Hamngatan in Stockholm, on the 10th of September 2003", district court actuary Anita Andreasson said.
Lindh died on September 11, a day after being stabbed in the NK department store in central Stockholm, in an incident which shocked Sweden and many worldwide.
The prosecutor's request, announced 90 minutes before a midday legal deadline, increased the likelihood of Svensson being charged with the murder of the popular minister, although prosecutors stressed that the point had not yet been reached.
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| 'Very few events stop the clocks. One such event is the death of Anna Lindh' |
The degree of suspicion was still "low", Andreasson said.
Police, running DNA tests, had until Friday to present evidence to chief prosecutors Agneta Blidberg, who submitted the request, and Krister Petersson.
If the request is granted, Svensson, who has denied any involvement in the killing, can be held for up to another two weeks before police have to present fresh evidence to support the case.
The court will deliberate later on Friday, but it was not clear when its decision would be announced.
Prosecutors argued that Svensson might flee or destroy evidence if set free, stressing the "extreme importance that the suspect be held in detention pending further investigation of the crime", Andreasson said.
| 'She loved the world, and was loved by the world' |
Police, who again interrogated Svensson overnight, were believed to be pinning their hopes on DNA testing, matching his samples with those found in blood and clothing left behind at the scene of the crime.
Medical staff have carried out both physical and psychiatric tests on the man, and have taken samples to compare with blood and other traces found in the department store where Lindh was fatally stabbed.
Preliminary DNA results came in on Thursday, but police officials on Friday declined to say whether they had been key to the prosecution's move. If they were, that would be seen as a major breakthrough in the case.
Meanwhile Swedish media stepped up their own inquiry into Svensson, who reportedly has not been able to present an alibi for the time of the attack, which occurred mid-afternoon on September 10.
Daily Expressen claimed that he was out partying all night at Stockholm's trendy night spots while Lindh was fighting for her life at Karolinska hospital.
Expressen also claimed that security police Saepo has stepped up security around Crown Princess Victoria, saying she has been stalked by five psychologically-disturbed men whose pictures have been distributed to police.
A memorial service was attended on Friday by well over a thousand foreign and Swedish dignitaries, family and friends for Lindh, a charismatic figure who embodied her country's ideals of democracy and human rights.
Lindh enjoyed equal popularity at home as on the world diplomatic stage, as was poignantly evident in speeches made by friends and colleagues.
"Few, very few events stop the clocks. One such event is the death of Anna Lindh," EU Foreign Relations Commissioner Chris Patten told the mourners.
"She loved the world, and was loved by the world," he said.
"We have lost her, that is the way it is. And that realisation hurts so terribly much," Prime Minister Goeran Persson said.
Police were out in force to protect the mourners, having earlier come under scathing criticism for having failed to prevent the fatal attack on Lindh, which evoked memories of 1986, when prime minister Olof Palme was murdered while walking home from a movie without any security protection.
Flower wreaths and bouquets were still piling up throughout the capital, notably at the department store and at government headquarters, Rosenbad.
At Rosenbad, a uniformed guard watches the flower mountain 24 hours a day, an irony not lost on Swedes.
"This is more protection than Anna Lindh ever got," said one commentator on Swedish radio. - Sapa-AFP
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