SWEDISH: The man who has admitted killing Sweden's Foreign Minister, Ms Anna Lindh, told a court yesterday that he didn't intend to kill her despite stabbing her 10 times.
On the first day of his trial for the murder of the Swedish minister, Mr Mijailo Mijailovic (25), repeatedly told the court that he was feeling extremely unwell at the time of the killing.
Mr Mijailovic confessed to the assassination last week, claiming inner voices told him to attack the Swedish minister.
Ms Lindh was stabbed in the arm, chest and abdomen on September 10th last year while shopping in the NK department store in central Stockholm.
She died of a deep stab wound to the liver which resulted in heavy internal bleeding. Another wound went right through her arm. Mr Mijailovic told the court, however, that the he didn't think he used much force when he attacked her. The state prosecutor, Ms Agneta Blidberg, is arguing for a murder conviction due to the level of aggression in the attack. Mr Mijailovic was calm throughout most of his cross-examination but became angry and refused to speak to prosecuting lawyers when asked repeatedly about his movements prior to the attack.
The prosecution is claiming that Mr Mijailovic saw Ms Lindh several minutes before he attacked her and then planned to kill her. Mr Mijailovic's lawyer, Mr Peter Althin, claims the attack was unplanned and without motive.
"I couldn't resist the voices, they were so strong," Mr Mijailovic told the court. He claimed that he was about to leave the NK department store on September 10th but took a wrong turn and saw Lindh, at which point an inner voice told him to "attack her." "I don't remember the actual attack, it happened so fast," he said.
Mr Althin also said the combination of anti-depressant medication his client was taking may have led to his unstable mental condition. It has emerged that six different doctors prescribed 15 different kinds of drugs which, if taken together, could lead to a state of psychosis.