- When the investigation into the Palme murder was closed last year, it became possible for anyone to take part in the very extensive preliminary investigation.
- No one has yet requested the entire investigation – on the other hand, around 700 requests have been received to take part in parts of the investigation.
- A group of eight lawyers at the Police Authority is now working full time to handle all requests.
On Sunday, it is 35 years since Sweden’s then Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot dead in central Stockholm.
At a press conference in June last year, prosecutor Krister Petersson pointed out a suspect, the so-called Skandiaman, who died in 2000.
At the same time, the preliminary investigation was dropped. Thus, one of the world’s largest criminal investigations became possible for the public to take part in.
So far it has been received approximately 700 requests for access to investigative material. Currently, there are about 10-15 requests a week.
A few people have come in with requests to take part in the entire investigation, but they have all been withdrawn, and then delimited, says Karin Öst, lawyer at the Police Authority.
– In the beginning, there were a number of requests that concerned the entire investigation. It was then estimated that the cost of copies of the entire investigation material would amount to one million kronor. And in all cases, it led to those people choosing to limit their request.
A group of eight lawyers at the Police Authority now work full time to test the confidentiality of material before extradition.
– And in addition to that group, there are also other functions in the authority in general that are involved in the handling in various ways. Above all, archivists whose task is to search for documents that are requested, and produce that basis for a secrecy test, says Karin Öst.
In total, there are around 90,000 people in the Palme Inquiry, and 10,000 of them are included in police interrogations. The lawyers’ main task is to protect information about individuals, which can be troublesome if they become public.
Source: ICELAND NEWS