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105-594: After the assassination of Olof Palme in 1986, two state commissions were appointed to assess Sweden's counter-terrorism capabilities. As a result, the government ordered the Swedish National Police Board to organize the "Standby Force Against Terrorism" ( Beredskapsstyrkan mot terrorism ) within the Stockholm County Police Authority in 1990. The group was soon renamed Nationella insatsstyrkan and became also

210-578: A boarding party . The NTF has one head of the unit with a number of subordinated coordinators, and a staff of experienced police officers from the unit. Under this management group the force is divided into 8 groups: The NTF is part of the National Intervention Concept (NIK). Launched in 2015, this concept standardized and regulated the employment, structure and capabilities of the Swedish police's tactical units. The NIK divides

315-430: A bank tax to fund the military spending. When an army based on national service (conscription) was introduced in 1901 all commissioned officers had ranks that were senior of the warrant officers ( underofficerare ) and non-commissioned officers ( underbefäl ). In a reform 1926 the relative rank of the then senior warrant officer, fanjunkare, was increased to be equal with the junior officer rank underlöjtnant and above

420-493: A book, Den osannolika mördaren ("The unlikely assassin"), based on a long-running investigation into Palme's murder. Pettersson's findings were also covered elsewhere in the Swedish media, for example by Expressen and Aftonbladet newspapers. Pettersson's theory is that Palme was shot by one Stig Engström , known as "the Skandia man" ( Skandiamannen ) after his employer, the Skandia insurance company, whose head office

525-517: A bullet fired during the robbery confirmed it to have the same isotopic composition as the bullets retrieved from the assassination crime scene, verifying that the bullets were manufactured at the same time. In the autumn of 2006, Swedish police, acting on a tip communicated to the Expressen newspaper, retrieved a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver from a lake in Dalarna. The gun was determined to be

630-410: A conclusive case and either bring charges or close the investigation within a matter of months. In December 1988, almost three years after Palme's death, Christer Pettersson , a criminal , drug user and alcoholic , who had previously been imprisoned for manslaughter , was arrested for the murder of Palme. Picked out by Mrs Palme at a lineup as the killer, Pettersson was tried and convicted of

735-464: A confession alone would not be sufficient, saying: He must say something about the weapon because the appeals court set that condition in its ruling. That is the only technical evidence that could be cited as a reason to re-open the case. While the legal case against Pettersson therefore remains closed, the police file on the investigation cannot be closed until both murder weapon and murderer are found. Christer Pettersson died on 29 September 2004, after

840-612: A dissident Kurdish group, led by Öcalan's ex-wife, had murdered Palme. The police team's visit proved to be unsuccessful. In 2007, renewed allegations of PKK complicity in Palme's assassination surfaced in Turkish media during the Ergenekon investigation , which was ongoing as of October 2008 . The Turkish newspapers have several times claimed that the PKK has admitted the murder but

945-493: A fall during an epileptic seizure caused a cerebral haemorrhage. According to a documentary programme broadcast on Swedish state television channel SVT in February 2006, associates of Pettersson claimed that he had confessed to them his role in the murder, but with the explanation that it was a case of mistaken identity . Allegedly, Pettersson had intended to kill Sigvard Cedergren, a drug dealer who customarily walked along

1050-592: A far-right political organization, financed by the CIA . According to Leopold, Palme was killed because he had given asylum to a great number of leftist Chileans following the coup that overthrew Salvador Allende in 1973. Another plot sees the involvement of the CIA and the Italian clandestine, pseudo- masonic lodge Propaganda Due led by Licio Gelli who wrote, in a telegram to Philip Guarino , that "the Swedish tree will be brought down". Claims of CIA involvement in

1155-506: A high-ranking Civil Cooperation Bureau operative, Athol Visser (or 'Ivan the Terrible'), was responsible for planning and carrying out Olof Palme's assassination. The 8 September 2010 edition of Efterlyst , Sweden's equivalent of BBC TV's Crimewatch programme, was co-hosted by Tommy Lindström, who was the head of Swedish CID at the time of Olof Palme's assassination. After being asked by Efterlyst's host Hasse Aro who he believed

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1260-515: A large part of the officer corps of the Swedish Armed Forces was preoccupied with administrative tasks instead of training soldiers or partaking in international operations. They claimed that Swedish officers were mainly focused on climbing the ranks and thereby increasing their wages and that the main way of doing this is to take more training courses, which decreases the number of officers that are specialized in their field. Therefore,

1365-503: A life as possible. He would often go out without any bodyguard protection, and the night of his murder was one such occasion. Walking home from the Grand Cinema with his wife Lisbeth Palme on the central Stockholm street of Sveavägen , close to midnight on 28 February 1986, the couple were attacked by a lone gunman. Palme was fatally shot in the back at close range at 23:21 CET. A second shot wounded Mrs Palme. Police said that

1470-402: A limp or otherwise clumsily, but those testimonies were not given immediately after the murder, only after the arrest of Christer Pettersson. Initially, many witnesses described the killer's movements as smooth, efficient and powerful. No witness was in a position to observe the killer's appearance in any detail. A police sketch of the supposed killer was widely circulated in the media a week after

1575-560: A love triangle. A suspect identified only as GH by the Granskningskommissionen of 1999 was of prime interest during the early investigation. This was based on a standard profile used by the police to identify an assassin. The conclusion was that the killer had a knowledge of handling light firearms, such as a Smith & Wesson of .357 Magnum , which GH at the time possessed. The suspect was reported to have failed to appear on several police interrogations to testify during

1680-606: A naval force deployed to the gulf of Aden as a part of Operation Atalanta . Military observers from Sweden have been sent to a large number of countries, including Georgia , Lebanon , Israel and Sri Lanka and Sweden also participates with staff officers to missions in Sudan and Chad . Sweden has been one of the Peacekeeping nations of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission that

1785-400: A number of alternative theories surrounding the murder surfaced. At the time, a murder under Swedish law was subject to prescription in 25 years. The law was later changed to prevent the Palme case from expiring, and thus the police investigation remained active for 34 years. In February 2020, Krister Petersson, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, stated that he expected to present

1890-550: A one-track career system within a single corps called professional officers ( yrkesofficerare ). The three messes were also merged to one. In 2008 the Riksdag decided to create a two-track career system with a category called specialistofficerare . When implementing the parliamentary resolution the Supreme Commander decided that some ranks in this category should, like the old underofficerare ranks in 1960–1972, have

1995-619: A resource for the whole of Sweden. The right to make decisions about when they were used was delegated by the government to the Swedish National Police Board. After a parliamentary decision in 2002, the NTF was transferred from the Stockholm County Police Authority to the National Criminal Police ( Rikskriminalpolisen ). In connection with the reorganization of the police in 2015, the NTF was placed under

2100-492: A response to the expanded military cooperation the defence proposition of 2009 stated that Sweden will not remain passive if a Nordic country or a member state of the European Union were attacked. Recent political decisions have strongly emphasized the capability to participate in international operations, to the point where this has become the main short-term goal of training and equipment acquisition. However, after

2205-527: A revolver of the type Smith & Wesson Model 28 ("Highway Patrolman") with .357 Magnum caliber, was first purchased legally by a civilian in the northern Swedish city of Luleå . The gun, along with 91 metal-piercing bullets, was stolen in a burglary in Haparanda in 1983 and is believed to have been used in the robbery of a post office in Mockfjärd , Dalarna that same year. A lead isotope analysis of

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2310-566: A shady company called AE Services – nominally based in Guildford , Surrey , England  – to bribe Indian government officials to conclude the deal – the Bofors scandal . Bondeson alleged that on the morning he was assassinated, Palme had met with the Iraqi ambassador to Sweden, Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf . The two discussed Bofors, which al-Sahhaf knew well because of its arms sales during

2415-442: A shorter, compressed police training roughly 18 months in length (including a 6-month probationary service period) to become badged police officers prior to attending the operator training course. Members of the NTF work full-time in the force. At the units inception the operators used to work two weeks on the unit followed by two weeks of regular police work, but as the need for them increased they changed it to full-time to cope with

2520-567: A taxi driver used his mobile radio to raise an alarm, and two girls in a nearby car tried to assist. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Sabbatsberg Hospital at 00:06 CET on 1 March 1986. The attacker escaped eastwards on Tunnelgatan . Deputy Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson immediately assumed the duties of Prime Minister as the new leader of the Social Democratic Party . Palme's decision to visit

2625-464: A theory that Palme's murder was linked with arms trades to India . Bondeson's book meticulously recreated the assassination and its aftermath, and suggested that Palme had used his friendship with Rajiv Gandhi to secure a SEK 8.4 billion deal for the Swedish armaments company Bofors to supply the Indian Army with howitzers . However, Palme did not know that behind his back Bofors had used

2730-527: A third person, Swedish mercenary Bertil Wedin , living in Northern Cyprus since 1985, was named as the killer by former police Lt. Peter Caselton, who had worked undercover for Williamson. The following month, in October 1996, Swedish police investigators visited South Africa, but were unable to uncover evidence to substantiate de Kock's claims. A book that was published in 2007 suggested that

2835-827: A total of 387 ships, including 4 submarines (3 Gotland , 1 Södermanland ), 7 corvettes (5 Visby , 2 Gävle ), 9 minesweepers (5 Koster , 4 Styrsö ), 13 larger patrol boats (2 Stockholm and 11 Tapper ) and 9 specialised ships with different support duties. The rest is made up of different smaller vessels such as the CB90 . Currently the Swedish Airforce has a total of 210 aircraft, 94 of those being JAS39C/D Gripen (60 JAS39E on order), 6 C130H Hercules (1 with aerial refueling capabilities), 4 SAAB 340 (2 AEW&C and 2 VIP transport), 4 Gulfstream IV (2 SIGINT and 2 VIP transport) as well as 15 UH-60 Blackhawk , 18 NH90 and 20 AgustaWestland helicopters. The rest

2940-467: Is General Michael Claesson . Before the enactment of the 1974 Instrument of Government , the King of Sweden was the de jure commander in chief ( Swedish : högste befälhavare ). Since then, King Carl XVI Gustaf is still considered to hold the honorary ranks of general and admiral à la suite , but the role is entirely ceremonial. The Swedish Armed Forces consists of three service branches;

3045-622: Is acting as the leading state for EU Battlegroups and also has a close cooperation, including joint exercises, with NATO through its membership in Partnership for Peace and Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council . In 2008 a partnership was initiated between the Nordic countries to, among other things, increase the capability of joint action, and this led to the creation of the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO). As

3150-467: Is attacked. On June 29, 2022, Finland and Sweden were formally invited to become members of NATO , and joined respectively in 2023 and 2024. The Swedish Armed Forces have four main tasks: Sweden aims to have the option of remaining neutral in case of proximate war. However, Sweden cooperates militarily with a number of foreign countries. As a member state of the European Union , Sweden

3255-436: Is located next to the murder scene. In earlier accounts Engström had been treated mostly as a witness, specifically (by his own assertion) the first eyewitness to arrive at the scene of the murder. He had also been briefly investigated by the police as a possible suspect, but this had subsequently been dropped. Pettersson posits a scenario where Engström, who had a strong dislike of Palme and his policies, had chanced upon Palme in

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3360-445: Is made up of different transport and trainer aircraft. The history of the Swedish Armed Forces dates back to the early sixteenth century, when they were founded by the newly crowned monarch Gustav I Vasa . Since then, they have played an important role in the history of Sweden; they have been engaged in numerous conflicts since their founding. It was in the seventeenth century that the Swedish Armed Forces reached their height, during

3465-871: Is tasked with overseeing the truce in the Korean Demilitarized Zone since the Korean war ended in 1953. Swedish air and ground forces saw combat during the Congo Crisis , as part of the United Nations Operation in the Congo force. 9 army battalions were sent in all, and their mission lasted 1960–1964. A battalion and other units were deployed with the NATO-led peacekeeping SFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996–2000), following

3570-521: Is the Smith & Wesson .357, which is why great efforts were made to locate a weapon of this make. Throughout the investigation, Swedish police test-fired approximately 500 Magnum revolvers . The investigation placed particular emphasis on tracking down ten Magnum revolvers reported stolen at the time of the murder. Out of these all were located except the Sucksdorff revolver , a weapon stolen from

3675-655: Is the highest level of command in the Swedish Armed Forces. It is led by the Supreme Commander with a civilian Director General as his deputy, with functional directorates having different responsibilities (e.g. the Military Intelligence and Security Service ). Overall, the Armed Forces Headquarters has about 2,100 employees, including civilian personnel. Some of the schools listed below answer to other units, listed under

3780-483: The 2008 South Ossetia war territorial defence was once again emphasized. Until then most units could not be mobilized within one year. In 2009 the Minister for Defence stated that in the future all of the armed forces must be capable of fully mobilizing within one week. In 2013, after Russian air exercises in close proximity to the Swedish border were widely reported, only six percent of Swedes expressed confidence in

3885-704: The ANC and the Anti-Apartheid Movement such as Oliver Tambo . In the address, Palme said, " Apartheid cannot be reformed, it has to be abolished." Ten years later, towards the end of September 1996, Colonel Eugene de Kock , a former South African police officer, gave evidence to the Supreme Court in Pretoria , alleging that Palme had been shot and killed because he "strongly opposed the apartheid regime and Sweden made substantial contributions to

3990-702: The Army , the Air Force and the Navy , with addition of the military reserve force Home Guard . Since 1994, the first three service branches are organized within a single unified government agency, headed by the Supreme Commander , while the Home Guard reports directly to the Supreme Commander. However, the services maintain their separate identities through the use of different uniforms, ranks, and other service specific traditions. The Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters

4095-590: The Bosnian War . NORDBAT 2 has been studied as an example of mission command on a chaotic battlefield with conflicting national orders. Sweden had military forces deployed in Afghanistan with the NATO -led International Security Assistance Force (2002–2014), and the subsequent Resolute Support Mission (2015–2021), which ended when all NATO troops were withdrawn after 20 years of action. In mid-1995, with

4200-563: The Congo Crisis and the military intervention in Libya . The Swedish army has 121 tanks ( Leopard 2/Strv 122 ), roughly 1,540 APCs (Patria XA-360 / 203 / 180 , RG-32 Scout , Bv410 , Bv308/309 )), 450 IFVs ( CV9040 ), 11,300 utility vehicles (ex. Bv206/208 , MB G-Class 6x6 and 4x4 , MB sprinter ), 84 towed and 40 self-propelled mortar ( 12 cm grk m/41 , grkpbv90 ) and 26 self-propelled artillery guns ( Archer ). It also consists of several different specialized vehicles. The Swedish Navy has

4305-577: The Iran–Iraq War . Bondeson suggested that the ambassador had told Palme about Bofors' activities, infuriating Palme. Bondeson theorized that Palme's murder might have been inadvertently triggered by his conversation with the ambassador, if either the Bofors arms dealers or the middlemen working through AE Services had a prearranged plan to silence the Prime Minister should he discover the truth and

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4410-517: The National Operations Department . The NTF is meant to handle extraordinarily difficult or life-threatening criminal situations, such as terrorism and hostage situations . The main tasks of the unit includes: The unit also conducts intervention tasks in cities or areas located outside of the area of responsibility of the reinforced regional task forces of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, and that are too complex for

4515-723: The Resolute Support Mission and in Kosovo (as part of Kosovo Force ). Moreover, Swedish Armed Forces contribute as the leading state for a European Union Battlegroup approximately once every three years through the Nordic Battlegroup . Prior to 2024 Sweden had close relations with NATO and NATO members, and participates in training exercises like the Admiral Pitka Recon Challenge , and Exercise Trident Juncture 2018 . In 2024,

4620-692: The SIG Sauer P226 pistol as a sidearm, which is the standard sidearm used by all Swedish police officers. Snipers are equipped with the Sako TRG M10 Sniper Weapon System in .338 Lapua Magnum . The special equipment of the NTF is significantly different from that of the ordinary police. Operators are equipped with different radios, as wells as vest and uniforms from American manufacturer Crye Precision , ballistic Ops Core helmets and AN/PVS-31 night vision goggles. They distinguish themselves from other Swedish police by

4725-843: The Swedish Army , the Swedish Navy , the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard . The Swedish Armed Forces have a long history, dating back to the sixteenth century, and have played an influential role in the history of Sweden. They reached their height in the seventeenth century, during the time of the Swedish Empire , when they participated in a variety of wars; these include the Scanian War , Second Northern War , and Great Northern War , among others. Since

4830-628: The 1990s. Later testimonies given by the suspect were deemed untrustworthy; this included the suspect's whereabouts during the night of the assassination and the disposal of firearms. He refused to submit his gun, the only registered .357 caliber weapon in the Stockholm region not to be tested, and subsequently claimed to have sold it to an unknown buyer in Kungsträdgården . GH had on one occasion had his gun license suspended after shooting his television, arguably after seeing Olof Palme's face on

4935-588: The ANC". De Kock went on to claim he knew the person responsible for Palme's murder. He alleged it was Craig Williamson , a former police colleague and a South African spy. A few days later, former police Captain Dirk Coetzee, who used to work with Williamson, identified Anthony White, a former Rhodesian Selous Scout with links to the South African security services, as Palme's actual murderer. Then

5040-740: The ATLAS counter terrorism network, especially with other Nordic units such as the Danish AKS and the Norwegian Delta . For maritime operations the NTF is supported by the Coast Guard , whose National boarding group operates rigid-hulled inflatable boats . The NTF are issued a wide variety of weapons, namely being the MP5 submachine gun, and LWRC M6 and LWRC REPR rifles. As well as shotguns. In addition, all operators are equipped with

5145-576: The German weekly Die Zeit from March 1995, Klaus-Dieter Knapp presented his view of the assassination as a result of a conspiracy among Swedish right-wing extremist police officers. According to this report, the murderer was identified by two witnesses who happened to be at the scene and who knew the murderer from previous encounters. In 1971, Olof Palme said that he blamed the fear of the masses on "anarchists and people with long hair and people with beards." Following up on this suggestion, Hans Holmér ,

5250-399: The Grand Cinema was made at very short notice. Lisbeth Palme had discussed seeing a film when she was at work during the afternoon, and called her son, Mårten Palme, at 17:00 to talk about the film at the Grand Cinema. Olof Palme did not hear about the plans until at home, at 18:30, when he met with his wife, by which time Palme had already declined any further personal bodyguard protection from

5355-490: The NTF the applicant is required to have completed either: Applicants who meet the basic requirements are then tested on their physical and psychological stamina during two 2 day periods. If successful they're invited to attend a grueling 10 day selection course in the field, At the end of the recruitment process an average of 6-10% of the candidates remain and progress to the roughly 7 months long operator training course. Candidates not already serving as police officers undergo

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5460-500: The PKK have always denied all claims. In 1998, the PKK said that there is a strong indication that the Turkish side is trying to discredit the PKK using Olof Palme's murder. Also many Kurdish organizations believe that the initial claims were propaganda of the Turkish government . In January 2011 the German magazine Focus cited official German interrogation records in connection with another investigation from 2008 as showing that

5565-669: The Palmes left their apartment, unescorted, heading for the Gamla stan metro station . Several people witnessed their short walk to the station and, according to the later police investigation, commented on the lack of bodyguards. The couple took the subway train to the Rådmansgatan station , from where they walked to the Grand Cinema. They met their son and his girlfriend just outside the cinema around 21:00. Olof Palme had not yet purchased tickets which were by then almost sold out. Recognizing

5670-475: The Russian invasion of Ukraine, the defence forces stated that there is a need for significantly more than the current. By December 2022, it was announced to increase the yearly conscripted to 10,000 by the end of 2035. In addition, figures from 2022 show that 79% of Swedes support in some form, an increase in the number of people who are conscripted. 47% of the respondents said that the majority of 19/20 year-olds should perform conscription. Military personnel of

5775-402: The Stockholm home of Swedish filmmaker Arne Sucksdorff in 1977. The person who stole the weapon was a friend of drug dealer Sigvard "Sigge" Cedergren, who claimed on his deathbed that he had lent a gun of the same type to Christer Pettersson two months prior to the assassination. Another weapon that has figured prominently in the investigation is the so-called Mockfjärd gun . This weapon,

5880-515: The Stockholm police commissioner, worked with an intelligence lead passed to him (supposedly by Bertil Wedin ) and arrested a number of Kurds living in Sweden. The PKK was allegedly responsible for the murder. The lead proved inconclusive however and ultimately led to Holmér's removal from the Palme murder investigation. Fifteen years later, in April 2001, a team of Swedish police officers went to interview PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in Turkish prison . Öcalan alleged during his trial that maybe

5985-420: The Swedish Armed Forces consists of: K = Continuously T = Part-time P = Conscript, for personnel drafted under the Swedish law of comprehensive defence duty Annual recruitment of GSS is assumed to be about 4,000 persons. Source: In 2008, professor Mats Alvesson of the University of Lund and Karl Ydén of the University of Göteborg claimed in an op-ed , based on Ydén's doctoral dissertation , that

6090-443: The Swedish Armed Forces were subject to severe downsizing during the interwar years. When World War II started, a large rearmament program was launched to once again guard Swedish neutrality, relying on mass male conscription as a source for personnel. After World War II, Sweden considered building nuclear weapons to deter a Soviet invasion. From 1945 to 1972 the Swedish government ran a clandestine nuclear weapons program under

6195-441: The ability of the nation to defend itself. The Supreme Commander ( Swedish : Överbefälhavaren , ÖB) is a four-star general or flag officer who is the agency head of the Swedish Armed Forces and the highest ranking professional officer on active duty. The Supreme Commander reports, normally through the Minister of Defence , to the Government of Sweden , which in turn answers to the Riksdag . The current supreme commander

6300-448: The armed forces were downsized, with conscription taking in fewer and fewer recruits until it was deactivated in 2010. This small size is often considered one of the major strategic weaknesses of the Swedish Armed Forces. The Russo-Georgian War of 2008 and the events in Ukraine in 2014 gradually shifted Swedish debate back in favour of increased defence spending, as concerns grew over Russia's military buildup and intentions. Conscription

6405-438: The assassination had been carried out by an operative of the Yugoslavian security service . John Ausonius , "the Laser Man", also known as John Stannerman, was initially one of the suspects but it turned out that Ausonius had a solid alibi , as he was imprisoned on the night Palme was shot. In 2018, journalist and investigator Thomas Pettersson published first a series of articles in the Swedish magazine Filter and later

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6510-435: The assassination were made by Richard Brenneke , an Oregon businessman who said he was an ex-CIA operative, in a RAI Television report in July 1990. The CIA denied Brenneke's allegations, calling them "absolute nonsense" of an "outrageous nature," and stating that "The agency flatly denies that Mr. Brenneke was ever an agent of the CIA or had any association with the CIA. A Swedish activist, Victor Gunnarsson (labeled in

6615-412: The authors claimed, the Swedish Armed Forces were poorly prepared for their mission. Major changes have been made to the officer system since then. The transformation of the old invasion defence-oriented armed forces to the new smaller and more mobile force has also been criticized. According to the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces the present defence budget will not be enough to implement

6720-411: The country formally became a member of NATO. Sweden also has a strong cooperation with its closest allies of the Nordic countries being part of the Nordic Defence Cooperation and joint exercises such as Exercise Northern Wind. Sweden has not participated in an officially declared war since the 1814 Swedish–Norwegian War , although its forces, under the UN flag, have been involved in conflicts like

6825-437: The deal with India become threatened. According to Bondeson, Swedish police suppressed vital MI6 intelligence about a Bofors/AE Services deal with India. The Swedish journalist Anders Leopold, in his 2008 book Det svenska trädet skall fällas ("The Swedish Tree Shall Be Brought Down"), makes the case that the Chilean fascist Roberto Thieme killed Olof Palme. Thieme was head of the most militant wing of Patria y Libertad ,

6930-410: The demand and the need for more training. Most members have prior military service and as of recently direct application from the military to the unit is possible. About 50% of the day-to-day work is dedicated to training, with the remaining 50% consisting of readiness and operational missions. The majority of the units operational taskings comes from the Swedish Security Service , being the agency with

7035-431: The evening, about which he provided false information when questioned, indicate he had the opportunity to find Palme at the cinema earlier that evening and later to follow him from there to the crime scene. Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces (Swedish: Försvarsmakten , literally Defence Force ) is the armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden . It consists of four separate military branches,

7140-535: The green uniforms worn while operating in uniform. Assassination of Olof Palme On 28 February 1986, at 23:21 CET (22:21 UTC ), Olof Palme , Prime Minister of Sweden , was fatally wounded by a single gunshot while walking home from a cinema with his wife Lisbeth Palme on the central Stockholm street Sveavägen . Lisbeth Palme was slightly wounded by a second shot. The couple did not have bodyguards with them. Christer Pettersson , who had previously been convicted of manslaughter in an unrelated case,

7245-403: The guise of civilian defence research at the Swedish National Defence Research Institute . By the late 1950s, the work had reached the point where underground testing was feasible. However, at that time the Riksdag prohibited research and development of nuclear weapons, pledging that research should be done only for the purpose of defence against nuclear attack. The option to continue development

7350-497: The investigation was officially closed. The decision to name Engström as a suspect was widely criticised. Various other theories about the murder have also been proposed. In 2018, the former businessman Jan Stocklassa conducted an investigation, which itself was based on the writer Stieg Larsson 's own investigation. In 2023, this investigation was presented in the HBO Max documentary The Man Who Played With Fire . Despite being Prime Minister, Palme sought to live as ordinary

7455-425: The investigation, announced his conclusion that Stig Engström , also known as the "Skandia Man", was the most likely suspect. No direct evidence was presented but the prosecutor mentioned Engström's past knowledge of weapons, friendship with anti-Palme circles and similar clothes as described by certain witnesses. However, as Engström died on 26 June 2000, and no further investigative or judicial measures were possible,

7560-536: The media 33-åringen , "the 33-year-old"), was soon arrested for the murder but quickly released, after a dispute between the police and prosecuting attorneys. Gunnarsson had connections to various extremist groups, among these the European Workers Party , the Swedish branch of the LaRouche movement . Pamphlets hostile to Palme from the party were found in his home outside Stockholm. Gunnarson's body

7665-438: The most junior officer rank fänrik . In 1960 the relative rank of the warrant officers were elevated further so that In 1972 the personnel structure changed, reflecting increased responsibilities of warrant and non-commissioned officers, renaming the underofficerare as kompaniofficerare , giving them the same ranks as company grade officers ( fänrik , löjtnant , kapten ). Underbefäl was renamed plutonsofficerare and given

7770-401: The murder, but was later acquitted on appeal to the court of appeal. Pettersson's appeal succeeded for three main reasons: Additional evidence against Pettersson surfaced in the late 1990s, mostly coming from various petty criminals who altered their stories but also from a confession made by Pettersson. The chief prosecutor, Agneta Blidberg, considered re-opening the case, but acknowledged that

7875-413: The murder, leading to a massive influx of tips from the public, but it was later determined that the witness on whose statement it was based probably had not seen the actual assailant. No good description of the killer's appearance therefore exists. However, witnesses did agree on the killer's escape route. Chiefs of Investigation Chief Prosecutors Along with the length of the ensuing investigation,

7980-479: The national service system based on universal military training, the Swedish Army consisted of 15 maneuver brigades and, in addition, 100 battalions of various sorts (artillery, engineers, rangers, air defence, amphibious, security, surveillance etc.) with a mobilization-time of between one and two days. When national service was replaced by a selective service system, fewer and fewer young men were drafted due to

8085-467: The new defence structure by 2019. And that even when finished the armed forces will only be able to fight for a week at most. During 2013 several Russian Air Force exercises over the Baltic Sea aimed at Swedish military targets have made the future of the Swedish Armed Forces a hot topic and several political parties now want to increase defence funding. In August 2019, the government announced

8190-423: The newspaper Dagens Nyheter of 28 February 2006, other SVT reporters scathingly criticized the documentary, alleging that the film-maker had fabricated a number of statements while omitting other contradictory evidence, in particular his chief source's earlier testimony that could not be reconciled with his claim to have seen the shooting. In the final part of the investigation, and in the end report, Pettersson

8295-666: The nineteenth century, they have also played an important role in the maintenance of Swedish neutrality , especially during the Cold War . The Swedish Armed Forces are made up of 25,600 active personnel, 11,800 military reserves, 22,200 Home Guard and 6,300 additional conscripts yearly into the Reserves (set to increase to 8,000 conscripts yearly by 2024) as of 2023. Units of the Swedish Armed Forces are currently on deployment in several international operations either actively or as military observers , including Afghanistan as part of

8400-584: The primary responsibility for counter terrorism and counter extremism. The unit perform roughly 100 operational missions per year. The NTF has a close and active cooperation with the military , they have aviation support via the Air Force's UH-60 Black Hawks and regularly train with their military counterpart, the Special Operations Task Group . The NTF also has an active cooperation with several equivalent units in Europe in place via

8505-578: The prime minister, the ticket clerk wanted him to have the best seats, and therefore sold Palme the theatre director's seats. After the screening, the two couples stayed outside the theatre for a while but separated at about 23:15. Olof and Lisbeth Palme headed south on the west side of Sveavägen, towards the northern entrance of the Hötorget metro station . When they reached the Adolf Fredrik Church , they crossed Sveavägen and continued on

8610-443: The rank titles of sergeant and fanjunkare , although their relative rank were now placed below fänrik . The commissioned officers were renamed regementsofficerare , beginning with löjtnant . The three-track career system was maintained, as well as three separate messes. A major change in the personnel structure in 1983 (NBO 1983), merged the three professional corps of platoon officers, company officers, and regimental officers into

8715-538: The reduction in size of the armed forces. By 2010 the Swedish Army had two battalions that could be mobilized within 90 days. When the volunteer system had been fully implemented by 2019, the army consisted of 7 maneuver battalions and 14 battalions of various sorts with a readiness of one week. The Home Guard was reduced in size to 22,000 soldiers. In 2019 the Swedish Armed Forces, now with a restored national service system combined with volunteer forces, aimed to reach 3 brigades as maneuver units by 2025. After having ended

8820-632: The regional task forces of the non-metropolitan regions to handle. The NTF has participated in international operations in an advisory role. They regularly accompany the personal protection details of the Swedish Security Service abroad, providing a CAT (counter assault team) capability. They were also deployed aboard the Swedish Coast Guard vessels participating in the EU-led border security operation Triton , acting as

8925-654: The same one used in the post office robbery in Mockfjärd, confirmed by the gun's serial number. The gun was transferred to the National Laboratory of Forensic Science in Linköping for further analysis. However, the laboratory concluded in May 2007 that tests on the gun could not confirm whether it was used in the Palme assassination, as it was too rusty. In 2021, another Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver

9030-492: The same street at night and resembled Palme both in appearance and dress. The programme also suggested there was greater police awareness than previously acknowledged because of surveillance of drug activity in the area. The police had several officers in apartments and cars along those few blocks of Sveavägen but, 45 minutes before the murder, the police monitoring ceased. In the light of these revelations, Swedish police undertook to review Palme's case and Pettersson's role. In

9135-417: The screen. GH has also been convicted for assault, one time for kicking a dog in 1985, and a later incident in 2005 when he assaulted a young man on the metro liner after being harassed. In August 2008, GH committed suicide by gunshot after the police rang his doorbell and requested to be let in after being alerted through a phone call by his brother. He reportedly had paranoia and depression. In an article in

9240-546: The security service. He talked to his son about the plans on the phone, and they eventually decided to join Mårten and his girlfriend, who had already purchased tickets for themselves to see the Swedish comedy Bröderna Mozart ( The Mozart Brothers ) by Suzanne Osten . This decision was made at about 20:00. The police later searched Palme's apartment, as well as Lisbeth's and Mårten's workplaces, for wire-bugging devices or traces of such equipment, but did not find any. At 20:30

9345-451: The shots, even though Engström himself claimed to have been present from the beginning, spoken to Mrs. Palme and the police, and taken part in attempts to resuscitate the victim. Conversely, the only persons whom Engström was able to identify as having been present at the scene were those likely to have been encountered by the killer, while he was unable to identify those who had arrived after the shooting. Also, Engström's known movements during

9450-452: The street and shot him, possibly without premeditation. Engström died in his home in June 2000. Pettersson suggests that evidence from the crime scene strongly points towards Engström as the assassin. Most significantly, several other witnesses gave descriptions of the fleeing killer that matched Engström, some of them very closely so, while no other witness placed Engström at the scene after

9555-541: The street's east side. They stopped a moment to look at something in a shop window, then continued past the Dekorima (later Kreatima, now Urban Deli) shop which was then located on the corner of Sveavägen and Tunnelgatan. At 23:21, a man appeared from behind, shot Mr. Palme at point-blank range and fired a second shot at Mrs. Palme. The perpetrator then jogged down Tunnelgatan street, up the steps to Malmskillnadsgatan, and continued down David Bagares gata [street], where he

9660-551: The time of the Swedish Empire. During this time, they were among the leaders in military innovation, and engaged in many wars; among the Swedish wars of the seventeenth century were the Thirty Years' War , Second Northern War , Scanian War and Great Northern War . The military of the Swedish Empire was one of the most important institutions in the empire. After a period of enhanced readiness during World War I ,

9765-468: The universal male conscription system in 2010, as well as deactivating conscription in peacetime, the conscription system was re-activated in 2017. Since 2018 both women and men are conscripted on equal terms. The motivation behind reactivating conscription was the need for personnel, as volunteer numbers proved to be insufficient to maintain the armed forces. The Swedish defence forces are currently educating 5,000-6,000 conscripts per year. However, after

9870-682: The various branches of the Armed Forces: The Nordic Battlegroup is a cooperative formation of the Swedish Armed Forces alongside mainly the other Nordic countries but also some of the Baltic countries as well as Ireland , tasked as one of the EU Battlegroups . The headquarter garrison for this group is currently situated in Enköping , Sweden . Sweden is part of the multinational Kosovo Force and has

9975-598: The various tactical units into three levels of capabilities: National capability: Provided by the NTF Reinforced regional capability: Provided by the RRTF (Piketen) in regions Stockholm , West and South . General regional capability: Provided by regional tactical teams dispersed throughout their respective region. This capability exists in regions North , East , Mid and Bergslagen . The unit recruits operators bi-annually. To be eligible for service with

10080-475: The weapon was a revolver (which does not automatically eject cartridge cases) there were no cases to recover for ballistic examination – only the two bullets recovered from the street. From the bullets' lack of certain characteristic deformations, investigators concluded they had been fired from a barrel no shorter than 10 cm (4 inches); thus the murder weapon would have been a conspicuously large handgun. The singularly most used weapon for this type of ammunition

10185-670: Was abandoned in 1966, and Sweden subsequently signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968; the program was finally concluded in 1972. During the Cold War , the wartime mass conscription system was kept in place to act as a deterrent to the Soviet Union , seen as the greatest military threat to Sweden. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union meant that the perceived threat lessened and

10290-552: Was behind the assassination of the Prime Minister, Lindström without hesitating pointed to apartheid South Africa as the number one suspect. And the motive for this, he said, was to stop the payments that the Swedish government secretly paid, through Switzerland , to the African National Congress . In his 2005 book Blood on the Snow: The Killing of Olof Palme , historian Jan Bondeson advanced

10395-479: Was convicted of the Palme murder in 1988 after Mrs. Palme identified him as the assailant. However, on appeal to Svea Court of Appeal , he was acquitted . A petition for a new trial, filed by the prosecutor, was denied by the Supreme Court of Sweden . Pettersson died on 29 September 2004, legally declared not guilty of the Palme assassination. On 10 June 2020, chief prosecutor Krister Petersson, in charge of

10500-559: Was found in 1993 in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the United States, stripped naked and with two .22 caliber pistol wounds to the back of the head. Some conspiracy theories suggest that Gunnarson might have been used by a foreign government, who then later had Gunnarson killed 8 years later in order to leave no trace of the crime. A former police officer, Lamont C. Underwood, was convicted of Gunnarson's murder as part of

10605-529: Was found in the Bällstaviken river in West Stockholm, by Paul D'Arcy. There were numerous witnesses to the murder, of whom more than 25 came forward to the police. The killer was described by witnesses as a man between 30 and 50 years of age, about 180 to 185 centimetres (5 ft 11 in to 6 ft 1 in) tall, and wearing a dark jacket or coat. Many described him as having walked with

10710-429: Was last seen. Thanks to time stamps on the radio chatter in the central dispatch centre, the events immediately after the murder have been determined with very high precision. The only forensic leads left by the assassin were the two bullets fired, identified as Winchester-Western .357 Magnum 158 grain metal piercing. Both bullets matched the lead fragments found in the clothing of Olof and Lisbeth Palme. Because

10815-469: Was not included much due to formal legal reasons. The police are, according to law, not allowed to reopen an investigation of a person found not guilty in trial, unless major new evidence materializes. Too little new evidence has come up, so after the trial, the investigation was not focused on him, and the final report instead pointed out the "Skandia man" with even less evidence. Olof Palme's surviving family members publicly remained convinced that Pettersson

10920-594: Was reintroduced in 2017 to supplement the insufficient number of volunteers signing up for service. Unlike in the past, the current conscription system applies to both men and women. Following the United Kingdom leaving the European Union in 2020, the EU's mutual defence clause ( Lisbon Treaty Article 42.7) ceased to apply to the UK. In 2022, Sweden and the UK signed a mutual security deal, re-pledging support if either state

11025-556: Was the shooter, supporting Lisbeth Palme's allegations, until her death in 2018. The couple's son, Mårten Palme, who last saw his father only minutes before the shooting, has since stated that he supports the "Skandia man" theory. On 21 February 1986 – a week before he was murdered – Palme made the keynote address to the Swedish People's Parliament Against Apartheid held in Stockholm, attended by hundreds of anti-apartheid sympathizers as well as leaders and officials from

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