Lindh killer's sanity in question

Mijailovic's lawyer says he should not be held responsible for murder

The mental health of the man who killed Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh has been the focus of a closed Supreme Court session in Stockholm.

Six medical experts gave evidence at the hearing to decide whether Mijailo Mijailovic, 25, should be in prison or psychiatric care.

Mijailovic was convicted of stabbing Ms Lindh to death in Stockholm last year.

He admitted the attack, but denies he intended to kill her, claiming voices in his head told him to do it.

In July, an appeals court ordered Mijailovic to undergo psychiatric care, reversing earlier judgements that concluded he was not mentally ill at the time of the murder and should therefore serve a life sentence.

But the court ruling upheld the murder conviction against Mijailovic.

Reports say the doctors at Thursday's closed session were split - with four of the doctors allegedly saying he is mentally ill, while the others believe he is well enough to serve time in jail.

Manslaughter bid

The hearing continues on Friday, but the Supreme Court is not expected to make a ruling for at least two weeks.

On Wednesday, Mijailovic's lawyer Mikael Nilsson reiterated the claim that the attack was not premeditated and that he had not stalked her.

"We ask that the Supreme Court not hold him responsible for murder. If the Supreme Court should find that he had intent to kill... we believe Mijailo Mijailovic should be sentenced for manslaughter," he said.

"It was a fluke that Anna Lindh was the victim. It could have been anyone."

Mijailovic, who is being held in a high-security psychiatric clinic, was not present during Thursday's hearings.

Ms Lindh died of her injuries on 11 September last year, a day after Mijailovic stabbed her while she was out shopping in a Stockholm department store.

She had been tipped as a possible future prime minister.

Her death stunned a nation which had still not come to terms with the unsolved killing in 1986 of the then prime minister, Olof Palme.