A little more than a year ago, 21-year-old Tove disappeared in Vetlanda. She was found dead in early November and two young women were subsequently convicted in the district court of murder.
The younger of these women, the 19-year-old, was today acquitted of murder in the Court of Appeal. Her sentence was instead imprisonment for one year and six months for grave breach of privacy.
Published in several media
During the past year, the young women’s names and pictures have been published in several media, including Göteborgs-Posten, Dagens nyheter, Aftonbladet and Expressen.
Expressen’s editor-in-chief Klas Granström defends the publication of the picture and name – despite the fact that the younger woman is now acquitted of murder.
– It is a very high-profile and major case that has involved the entire country. It is unusual in several ways and has created a very large interest among all readers and viewers, he tells Kulturnyheterna.
– If you are acquitted of murder, that also needs to come out. So I think the most important thing here and now is that you continue to report as clearly as possible.
Risks publicity damage
Several media outlets have chosen not to publish names, including SVT, which previously referred to the case not having been legally concluded and that they are about two young people who had previously been unpunished, with families affected by a designation.
Likewise SvD, the newspaper’s responsible publisher Martin Ahlquist has earlier wrote that the public interest does not outweigh the publicity damage, and mentions the age of those named and care for the victim’s relatives as important factors to consider.
The older woman convicted of murder in the district court, the 20-year-old, had both the murder conviction and the sentence for grave breach of peace upheld in the Court of Appeal – but the sentence was reduced from life to 16 years in prison.