I clearly remember the morning of  Febuary 28 1986. It was a Saturday, and my sister and I were up early to watch the famous morning show “Godmorgon Sverige” (Good morning Sweden). We snuggled up in the sofa and put the telly on. But there was no Godmorgon Sverige. Instead, a very serious man starred back at us from the screen, announcing that “Sveriges stadsminister Olof Palme är död” (Sweden’s prime minister Olof Palme s dead). Being only six, I got more upset over the fact that my beloved morning show was cancelled, and ran upstairs to my parent’s bedroom. I rememeber jumping into their big bed and telling them that Olof Palme was dead and Godmorgon Sverige was cancelled. They didn’t believe me. But dad put the radio on on his bedside table. A similar voice announced the exact same message. Sweden’s prime minister was dead, shot on his way home from the cinema on Sveavägen in Stockholm.

 Olof Palme is considered one of the great heroes ofSwedish social democracy.  He was the leader of the Social Democracy Party from 1969 to his murder, and Sweden’s prime minister twice, between 1969-1976 and from 1982 until his death. Justice, equality and peace were very close to his heart. He refused to be bound by the narrow-minded Cold War mentality, taking a strong stand against the Vietnam War and fought for liberation of oppressed people in Third World countries. Because of Palme’s strong opinions about the Cold War and the Vietnam War, the Swedish-American relations were at a record low during Palme’s term. Therefore, it’s a popular conspiracy theory that he was assassinated by the KGB or the CIA.

In 1988, Christer Pettersson, a small time crook, alcoholic andrug addict, was convicted for Palme’s murder. It has been speculated that he was supposed to kill drug dealer that normally used to hang around Sveavägen, but  he misstakenly killed Olof Palme instead. The conviction was overturned in 1989 and Christer Pettersson was released. He died in 2004.

25 years has passed since that day and the murder of Olof Palme remains unsolved.