On February 28, 1986, Olof Palme fell victim to a brutal attack on an open street in central Stockholm. The murder of Sweden's Prime Minister was a unique assault on our democracy. In a state governed by the rule of law, everything should have been done to solve this crime.
It is unacceptable that today, forty years later, the murder remains unsolved, when not all possibilities have yet been explored to find an indisputable and definitive solution.
The murder investigation was closed in 2020 without any clarity being achieved—a total failure by the police and prosecutors. The designation of the "Skandia Man" at the same time was made entirely without concrete evidence and therefore represents an unreasonable conclusion. Theories about other lone perpetrators have also circulated, likewise without solid evidence.
No obstacles should have been allowed to stand in the way of tracing the perpetrator, his possible accomplices, and their motives for killing Olof Palme. Yet such obstacles have always existed, in the form of strict secrecy and confidentiality that blocked leads pointing to a politically more sensitive explanation for the murder than that of a lone gunman.
How could the truth emerge when investigators were not given access to all relevant material? When government agencies refused to grant the police insight into their archives and responsible officials invoked confidentiality?
One line of inquiry that was obstructed in this way concerns information suggesting that civilian or military security or intelligence personnel within the Swedish Security Service (Säpo), Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST), or the secret Stay Behind organization may have been involved in the assassination.
There have been several concrete tips and leads on this, where police investigation either was not conducted or was hindered by secrecy.
Among these uninvestigated matters are the following:
- •That on the night of the murder, a secret Säpo operation was underway near the crime scene, under the codename Cosi fan tutte, which the murder investigators were not informed about
- •That Säpo personnel, even at the highest level, provided false information to the investigators about their activities on the night of the murder
- •That Säpo's highly classified file on Olof Palme disappeared from the archive and was not made available to investigators
- •That the prosecutor never received a clear answer from the Armed Forces regarding an alleged coup defense exercise in central Stockholm on the night of the murder
That the investigation of the murder of the Prime Minister was obstructed in this way by government agencies is, of course, unacceptable. Therefore, a forceful new approach is needed.
But to break through the barrier of secrecy and silence that has prevented even the police investigators from gaining insight, extraordinary powers are required—powers that previous investigations have not had.
The Review Commission appointed by Parliament in the 1990s to examine the investigation up to that point had a limited mandate and lacked investigative powers. It encountered a lack of cooperation from Säpo and could not overcome the obstacles of secrecy and confidentiality.
Nevertheless, it pointed to serious shortcomings in the form of inadequately investigated circles of individuals and motives. These deficiencies were never addressed and therefore remained when the murder investigation was closed in 2020—and they remain today.
It is now high time to fill the gaps in the murder investigation and shed light on the darkened rooms that have been closed to scrutiny for 40 years.
We believe that a Truth Commission with exceptionally strong powers, appointed by the government and parliament, is needed. Such a commission should work independently, but an effective review of these dark rooms is essential.
A model could be the Norwegian Lund Commission, led by the lawyer and judge Ketil Lund. It was established in the 1990s by the Parliament (Stortinget) to investigate alleged illegal wiretapping and surveillance by the Norwegian security police.
Thanks to its uniquely strong mandate, the commission managed to break through walls of secrecy, silence, and outright lies. In Norway, the work of the Lund Commission came to be seen as a cleansing process that made the country stronger, despite—or perhaps because of—its troubling revelations.
A similar commission, with the right to full access to all archived documentation and the ability to conduct court-like hearings under oath and override confidentiality for those questioned, could bring us closer to a solution or an explanation of the attack on Olof Palme.
Technological capabilities have also improved significantly, with AI and DNA analysis enabling more efficient investigation.
If nothing is done, there is a risk that the murder of Sweden's Prime Minister will remain described as unsolved, with the killer—and the background and motives of any possible accomplices—unknown.
Such a failure, leaving lasting doubts about the willingness to turn over every stone, is not worthy of a state governed by law. We cannot accept this when there is an opportunity to seek the solution along known but insufficiently explored paths.
Olof Palme is the most internationally prominent Swedish politician ever. The failed effort to solve the murder does not benefit the world's view of Sweden. It is the only murder of a political leader in Europe in modern times that risks remaining unsolved.
We firmly believe that clarifying all circumstances surrounding the murder of Olof Palme would strengthen Sweden.
We therefore urge Sweden's government and parliament to appoint a strong Truth Commission tasked with creating the greatest possible clarity regarding the murder of the country's Prime Minister.