Eminent Swedish psychiatrist killed in Almedalen knife attack
The Swedish psychiatrist Ing-Marie Wieselgren was named on Wednesday evening as the victim of the knife attack at the Almedalen political festival.
Wieselgren, 64, worked as National Coordinator for Psychiatry at The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR), and was stabbed in the chest on Wednesday at 2pm as she was on the way to a seminar on children with neuropsychiatric diagnoses such as ADHD and Autism.
She was given CPR until an ambulance arrived, and taken to the Visby hospital, but died shortly afterwards.
Wieselgren had worked throughout her life to communicate with the public on mental health and psychiatric issues, contributing several times to the Thought of the Day slot on Swedish state broadcast SR, and recording videos on YouTube.
Hours before her death, she recorded and published a video clip in which she said, "However well we do in building our society, some people will have difficulties. Sometimes life is not so simple, it is not so nice to us".
Wieselgren's death was officially confirmed in a press release from the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions on Thursday morning.
"SKR has lost an appreciated and much-loved employee, her colleagues have lost a good friend, and Sweden as a whole has lost one of the strongest voices for psychiatric health and psychiatric care," said the organisation's chief executive Steffan Isling. "She was a strong voice for those who are otherwise not heard in the national debate."
Sweden's health minister, Lena Hallengren, said in a statement on Twitter that Wieselgren had been for her "an important source of knowledge and inspiration in the work against psychiatric ill-health."
"The message that Ing-Marie Wieselgren has died in this horrific attack in Visby has left me in dismay," she said.
Det är med bestörtning jag nåtts av beskedet att Ing-Marie Wieselgren har gått bort i det fruktansvärda dådet i Visby. För mig har Ing-Marie varit en viktig källa till kunskap och inspiration i arbetet mot psykisk ohälsa. Mina tankar finns hos hennes familj, vänner och kollegor.
— Lena Hallengren (@lenahallengren) July 6, 2022
According to the Sweden's Expressen and Aftonbladet tabloid, the 33-year-old attacker, who is being held on suspicion of murder, has links to the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR), and had expressed support for the far-Right Alternative for Sweden party.
According to the anti-extremist magazine Expo, the man signed up for so-called "support membership" of NMR in 2015, and wrote several articles for the organisation's Nordfront newspaper.
He also took part in at least four of the organisations demonstrations between 2017 and 2018, after which it is unclear if he was still actively engaged.
According to Expo, the man attended the Almedalen festival in 2014, at which he wore a Sweden Democrat t-shirt, but he told a representative for the neo-Nazi Svenskarnas party, that he also supported them.
"I sympathise with the Sweden Democrats, but I also support you," he said, the magazine reported. "You are the spearhead of the nationalist movement."
Comments
See Also
Wieselgren, 64, worked as National Coordinator for Psychiatry at The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR), and was stabbed in the chest on Wednesday at 2pm as she was on the way to a seminar on children with neuropsychiatric diagnoses such as ADHD and Autism.
She was given CPR until an ambulance arrived, and taken to the Visby hospital, but died shortly afterwards.
Wieselgren had worked throughout her life to communicate with the public on mental health and psychiatric issues, contributing several times to the Thought of the Day slot on Swedish state broadcast SR, and recording videos on YouTube.
Hours before her death, she recorded and published a video clip in which she said, "However well we do in building our society, some people will have difficulties. Sometimes life is not so simple, it is not so nice to us".
Wieselgren's death was officially confirmed in a press release from the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions on Thursday morning.
"SKR has lost an appreciated and much-loved employee, her colleagues have lost a good friend, and Sweden as a whole has lost one of the strongest voices for psychiatric health and psychiatric care," said the organisation's chief executive Steffan Isling. "She was a strong voice for those who are otherwise not heard in the national debate."
Sweden's health minister, Lena Hallengren, said in a statement on Twitter that Wieselgren had been for her "an important source of knowledge and inspiration in the work against psychiatric ill-health."
"The message that Ing-Marie Wieselgren has died in this horrific attack in Visby has left me in dismay," she said.
Det är med bestörtning jag nåtts av beskedet att Ing-Marie Wieselgren har gått bort i det fruktansvärda dådet i Visby. För mig har Ing-Marie varit en viktig källa till kunskap och inspiration i arbetet mot psykisk ohälsa. Mina tankar finns hos hennes familj, vänner och kollegor.
— Lena Hallengren (@lenahallengren) July 6, 2022
According to the Sweden's Expressen and Aftonbladet tabloid, the 33-year-old attacker, who is being held on suspicion of murder, has links to the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR), and had expressed support for the far-Right Alternative for Sweden party.
According to the anti-extremist magazine Expo, the man signed up for so-called "support membership" of NMR in 2015, and wrote several articles for the organisation's Nordfront newspaper.
He also took part in at least four of the organisations demonstrations between 2017 and 2018, after which it is unclear if he was still actively engaged.
According to Expo, the man attended the Almedalen festival in 2014, at which he wore a Sweden Democrat t-shirt, but he told a representative for the neo-Nazi Svenskarnas party, that he also supported them.
"I sympathise with the Sweden Democrats, but I also support you," he said, the magazine reported. "You are the spearhead of the nationalist movement."
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.