Claes Borgström had many notable cases on his table. He was a defense attorney for Thomas Quick and a plea bargain for the two women who accused Wikileaks founder Julian Assange of sexual abuse.

Borgström was also Sweden's first male equality ombudsman and he was also politically involved in the Social Democrats and the Left Party.

Died in covid-19

During Friday night, the message came that Claes Borgström had died. He turned 75 years old.

The lawyer and former Minister of Justice Thomas Bodström ran a law firm between 2007 and 2014 together with Borgström. He says he got the message earlier on Friday and that Claes Borgström died in covid-19.

- I have known that he was ill for a couple of weeks. And that he probably may have fallen ill at a funeral that we were at. It was the last time we met and I heard that he got sick a few days after that.

"It's very sad"

Thomas Bodström says that he and Claes Borgström had a nice meeting at the funeral.

- It's very sad. Claes was one of Sweden's absolute best criminal defense lawyers, but also a fine man who was always committed to everything he did.

- I have known him for 30 years, since I left the law line and started working for him. He was my employer, mentor, colleague and close friend. We haven't worked together for the last few years, but I will remember him for all these years.

Anne Ramberg, former secretary general of the Law Society, also remembers Claes Borgström with warmth.

- It affected me greatly when I heard it from a colleague who worked near Claes. He and I often had different opinions about things, such as the Quick Trial. But we still had hot discussions and he could distinguish between thing and person. He had a lot of privacy.

"Did not belong to the comfortable crowd"

She describes Claes Borgström as a role model who was respected by colleagues.

- He was a role model to many, he fought for his clients and was fearless. He did not belong to the comfortable crowd, but always said what he thought.