It was in March 2017 that a young man was brutally shot down at a landfill at Rosengård in Malmö, an order murder that was planned via encrypted messages.
In November, three people were convicted of the murder: a 28-year-old man was sentenced to 18 years in prison for murder. Another two were convicted of assisting in the murder and received four and seven years in prison respectively.
The murdered 28-year-old appealed to the High Court and wanted to be fully acquitted, or receive a lower sentence. The High Court has dealt with the case in court for at least 20 days and today the verdict was expected. But that was not the case.
"Did not want to risk life imprisonment"The day before the verdict was announced, a decision was made to write off the case. The reason is that the 28-year-old regretted and withdrew his appeal.
- He remained in custody with restrictions and everything was said to get him a convict. In those circumstances, he had to either accept the sentence that existed, or risk being sentenced to life imprisonment. And then he chose to withdraw his appeal, says defense lawyer Lars Kruse.
Thus, the district court's ruling on 18 years in prison applies.
Why did he withdraw the appeal so late, just two days before the verdict was announced?
- The timing as such is nothing that matters, one can withdraw an appeal five minutes before the verdict is announced. He wanted to wait and see if there would be another arrest decision. If you are set free, it is likely to be a free judgment, says Lars Kruse.
Large cost to the judiciaryThe rules are now being challenged by Prosecutor Lisa Åberg, who believes that these are large costs for the judiciary.
- The High Court has held the main hearing for almost 20 days and was certainly in principle in line with the judgment when the appeals were withdrawn. The question is whether there should not be a rule that set a limit on how late in a court case that an appeal can be withdrawn.
Even the man who received seven years in prison for assisting in the murder regretted and withdrew his appeal. SVT News Skåne has sought the lawyer, but has not yet received an answer.
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