Arrested abroad after four years - fire trial begins

During the summer of 2017, one of the residents at Lindemohemmet started a fire in his room in an attempt to take his life.

Neither the man himself nor any of the other 68 residents were injured, but parts of the asylum accommodation burned to the ground.

Shortly after the incident, the man disappeared to Germany and the trial has been canceled once before when the man did not show up.

Trial initiated after four years

In May, he was summoned to a hearing, but when he never showed up, it was decided to detain him in his absence.

Since he was arrested abroad earlier in August, he has been detained in Malmö on probable cause on suspicion of aggravated arson.

On Monday, the trial began in Blekinge District Court.

- He has not stayed away, he was set free.

He was a free person and could move freely, so he went to Germany because there he had a greater opportunity to get the residence permit that he had been denied here, says defense lawyer Angelika Lesniewicz.

Neither denies nor acknowledges

The man neither denies nor admits the crime because he does not remember anything from the incident.

He says in the district court that he had no idea that the fire could cause harm to others.

- In any case, he did not intend to put anyone in danger or cause any devastation that resulted from this, Lesniewicz says.

The man has previously been in contact with psychiatry and he is also sometimes considered to be psychotic.

A psychiatric investigation is now awaited, which will be lifted at the next trial day on 8 September.

What does chamber prosecutor Hedvig Lundblad demand after the first day of the court ???