Mijailo Mijailovic, a 25-year-old Swede born to Serbian parents, confessed Jan. 7 to fatally stabbing Lindh, one of the country's most popular politicians, at Stockholm's upmarket NK department store Sept. 10.

The trial, which millions of Swedes are expected to follow via a live radio broadcast, is expected to conclude Jan. 19. If convicted, Mijailovic faces a life sentence, which in Sweden usually corresponds to around 15 years.

Mijailovic has admitted attacking Lindh, who had been tipped as a future prime minister, as she shopped with a girlfriend, but without a bodyguard, for clothes for a televised debate on the euro just days before Sweden was to vote in a referendum on the issue.

Her death rekindled dark memories of the unsolved 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 17, 2004
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