The threat has reached another level

Can the fatal attack on Ing-Marie Wieselgren and the plans to murder Annie Lööf in Almedalen be seen as a terrorist crime? That question was the theme during the fourth day of the trial against 33-year-old Theodor Engström.

– The threat has reached another level, beyond what we are used to from our patients, says Martin Hultén, chairman of the Swedish Psychiatric Association.

He is one of the witnesses called on Monday to support prosecutor Henrik Olin’s claim that the knife attack on psychiatric coordinator Ing-Marie Wieselgren in Visby on July 6 and the plans to kill or injure Center Party leader Annie Lööf constitute terrorist crimes.

In order for something to be seen as a terrorist crime, certain special conditions must be met: that the act could seriously harm Sweden and that the perpetrator’s intention was to make the population or parts of the population feel serious fear.

Getting speculative

On Monday, police officers, various security officers and representatives of Sweden’s Municipalities and Regions, where Wieselgren worked, had to answer questions about how what happened may have affected society. They also had to give their view of how it would have affected if Theodor Engström had not been arrested immediately, or if the planned attack on Annie Lööf had actually been carried out.

The last-mentioned questions are sometimes difficult for the witnesses to answer, and it was repeated time and time again that much of what is said becomes highly speculative.

– If we had had a murder of a Riksdag politician and party chairman during Almedal Week, I think it would probably have immediately led to us having to close down, at least then and there, says Rikard von Zweigbergk, head of preparedness and security protection at Region Gotland .

More controls

The police’s commanding officer for the special event election 2022, Jonas Hysing, believes that if Engström had not been arrested at once, there could have been a case of evictions, i.e. the opposite of evictions. More rigorous checks and an increased police presence were also probably required, not only in Almedalen but also in other places in the country.

– Without being too dramatic, you can say that the uncertainty factors increase squarely, directly. Because then we don’t know if it’s a lone perpetrator or if there are several perpetrators, says Hysing, and adds that they also don’t know if it was part of a larger action across the country.

Had the plans for an attack on Lööf been completed, he does not rule out a full evacuation of the Almedal week. What happened led to a reminder to the entire police organization of the importance of on-site policing at various gatherings.

– Those who act alone are much more difficult to detect before the crime takes place. One way of working is to increase the police presence and police checks and to pay attention to deviant behaviour. But then you have to know that then the margins are small, says Jonas Hysing.

Before and after

Martin Hultén says that Ing-Marie Wieselgren’s death is a heavy blow to Psychiatry Sweden.

– What means a kind of before and after is that we have had to adopt a different security mindset. When we hold larger meetings, we will in the future – and have already had – greater security in place, he says.

Fredrik Agemark, head of security at the Government Offices, says that the attack made it very clear that it costs money for those who want to get involved politically.

– There is a cost to expressing one’s views, and there I think it can be a challenge for democracy, if someone chooses not to get involved politically because of concern and fear for their own safety.

Facts

The murder in Visby

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