from Hacker News

Who killed Olof Palme?

by ptype on 5/16/19, 8:15 AM with 68 comments

• by kartan on 5/17/19, 3:02 PM

  I pass by Adolf Fredrik Church, where he is buried, each day.

  It was sad to see two people guarding his tomb all day, even in the rain, in the day that commemorates his dead.

  I have also read a book about his assassination that I will recommend to skip and read about his ideas instead.

  It will be better to share his ideas than to focus on his death. I think that his world view is more needed now than ever.

• by mongol on 5/17/19, 2:30 PM

  Would be interesting to hear how "interesting" this article is for an international audience. As a Swede I am sick and tired about all speculation over the years. It is like a wound that never heals. We will never know for sure. Probably like the JFK assasination.

• by mortb on 5/17/19, 4:53 PM

  One of the theories about who shot him (there are many https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Olof_Palme) points to South Africa. There is also a theory that South Africans killed Dag Hammarskjöld, the Swedish UN leader https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/20/south-africa-w...

• by bjourne on 5/17/19, 5:12 PM

  The murder of OP isn't that interesting. Everyone who is knowledgeable about the case knows it can't have been a conspiracy. It was a lone gunman, possibly a drug addict, seeing OP and his wife, seizing the opportunity to kill him.

  But what is interesting is the completely disastrous following investigation. The police in Stockholm fucked up in every possible way there is to fuck up. Records were not kept, witnesses were promised rewards for testifying, they didn't investigate the crime scene properly, chased after wild conspiracy theories about South Africa and PKK and so on. Eventually they brought in experts from the FBI, but then it was already too late because it is much harder to solve a murder three years after the fact than one month after. The only reason the murderer went free is the insane incompetence displayed.

• by mongol on 5/17/19, 4:47 PM

  Something about Olof Palme himself. I don't think there has been any other politician in Sweden that have split the opinions in society like him. The left loved him. The right did not. I don't want to reach out for the word hate, because it is so often used today. He was certainly hated among some, yes. But more than that, he was despised probably by the majority among the minority that did not vote left. He left no one neutral.

  How come?

  A well known quote of his :

  "Jag tror efter de studier vi gjort är korrekt att säga att Arbetsgivareföreningens propagandister i mycket framstår som hatets och illviljans kolportörer mot svensk arbetarrörelse"

  Basically, this in very sofisticated words describes the Employer organisation's "propagandists" as agents of hate and ill-will against the labour movement. Quite an insult against political opponents. Today, we are perhaps used / more exposed to similar language in social media etc. But during this time, there was nothing like it.

  This should be understood against the backdrop of the politics of the time. Sweden was at the time significantly more socialist, very high income taxes, and the right probably felt that there were no limits how far social democratic politicians were prepared to go. Right or wrong, this was the sentiment among many.

  His language was often arrogant and in ways derogatory, but not similar to Trump's bombastic tone. In contrast, using much more elegant and precise prose.

  I am certain I will get replies that will defend his deeds and oppose how I describe him. Understand that just like society appeared during his reign - two sides who could not understand the other.

• by fermigier on 5/17/19, 4:12 PM

  "Les chefs des drapeaux rouges et les chefs des chemises noires ne vont qu'au pas cinglant de leurs bottes guerrières, le torse pris dans un corset de fer à l'épreuve de l'amour et des balles. Ils vont, tragiques et le flingue sur le cœur. Ils vont, métalliques et la peur au ventre, vers les palais blindés où s'ordonnent leurs lois de glace. Ils marchent droits sous leurs casquettes, leurs yeux durs sous verre fumé, cernés de vingt gorilles pare-chocs qui surveillent les toits pour repérer la mort. Mais la mort n'est pas pour les chefs des drapeaux rouges ni pour les chefs des chemises noires. La mort n'est pas aux fenêtres des rideaux de fer. Elle a trop peur.

  La mort est sur Stockholm. Elle signe, d'un trait rouge sur la neige blanche, son aveu d'impuissance à tuer la liberté des hommes qui vont au cinéma, tout seuls, bras dessus, bras dessous, avec la femme qu'ils aiment jusqu'à ce que mort s'ensuive."

  Pierre Desproges

• by gumby on 5/17/19, 4:35 PM

  I am not Swedish, and had not yet visited Sweden at the time, and yet somehow Palme‘s murder was shocking and memorable to me.

  Perhaps it was that it was a blatant murder in a crowded public place, like something from James Bond. Or the murder of a major public figure, something that had seemingly gone out of fashion (I remember Lennon’s murder distinctly as well, but that was a loonie so somehow lacked the same significance to me).

  So odd, since I knew nothing of Swedish politics and honestly couldn’t care less (though I knew who he was, an internationally famous politician).

  So whenever his name surfaces I always check out the article. The 80s were weird, and seem weirder in retrospect.

• by thatguyagain on 5/17/19, 4:52 PM

  For all non swedes here, you should check out his speeches on youtube. He is known as a very well speaker.

• by egl2019 on 5/17/19, 7:10 PM

  Bring Martin Beck out of retirement.

• by saalweachter on 5/17/19, 2:40 PM

  Eh, the JFK assassination is more people wanting a conspiracy over the boring explanations rather than an unsolved murder.

• by kleton on 5/17/19, 5:03 PM

  The Mossad. Palme was a good friend of Palestine.