‘Who knows what horrors he has been through?’ Swedish police chief sparks anger by SYMPATHISING with Somali boy, 15, ‘who stabbed refugee worker to death’
The head of the Swedish police has sparked outrage by expressing sympathy with the teenage asylum seeker accused of murdering social worker Alexander Mezher.
National Police Commissioner Dan Eliasson, who has already admitted police cannot cope with the wave of migrant crime, said he has concerns about the ‘horrors’ and trauma the accused murderer may have witnessed.
He said he was ‘distraught’ on behalf of Miss Mezher’s family but also for the killer, saying: ‘What has that person been through? Under what circumstances has he grown up? What is the trauma he carries?’
It came as court documents showed the boy suspected of the killing is being held in a secure psychiatric that specialises in patients with psychotic illness, drug and alcohol addiction.
In an with SVT Mr Eliasson said: ‘Well, you are of course distraught on behalf of everyone involved.
‘Naturally, for the person killed and her family, but also for a lone young boy who commits such a heinous incident.
‘What has that person been through? Under what circumstances has he grown up? What is the trauma he carries?
‘This entire migration crisis shows how unfair life is in many parts of the world. We have to try to help solve this best we can.’
MailOnline has contacted Mr Eliasson for further explanation of his comments, but a spokesman would not reveal where he is.
His comments sparked angry reactions across social media, with some saying the police chief made them ‘want to vomit’.
Jenny Sundelin wrote on Twitter: ‘I vomit when I see you. You are supposed to be the person most responsible for our safety and you defend those who murder us’
Billy TheBritt added: ‘Does the nerd @dan_eliasson feel sorry for Breivik too? What about the Trollhattan killer? Does Dan’s heart bleed for him too?’
Kent Ekeroth, a member of parliament for the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats tweeted: ‘This is where Dan Eliasson feels sorry for the guy who knifemurdered the woman at the asylum home – resign!’
Eliasson is not the first senior political figure in Sweden to demand compassion for the 15-year-old boy being held on suspicion of murder.
Marie Osth Karlsson, a senior local government commissioner, said: ‘I also have to express sympathy for the man behind the crime, there is also a person behind it’
Both Eliasson and Osth Karlsson belong to the ruling Social Democrat party, which has been criticised in the past year for its handling of the migrant crisis.
His comments follow the release of court documents which show murder detectives do not know the true identity of the Somali boy who allegedly stabbed to death Miss Mezher.
Reports suggested the boy was 15 and living in a child migrant centre in Molndal where Miss Mezher worked.
But next to the suspect’s name are the words ‘ID ej styrkt’, meaning ‘ID not proven’.
It means the boy had nothing to prove his identity when he arrived in Sweden – and that he could be 18 or even older.
A police spokesman in Gothenburg yesterday told MailOnline: ‘We are not 100% sure about the boys identity. But we do have a good picture and will find that out eventually.
‘This is usually the case with unaccompanied refugee children. It is hard to establish if their identity is true or not.’
The boy has been charged with murder and attempted murder.
He is being held at the high security psychiatric clinic at Sahlgrenska University Hospital is run by the Swedish NHS called Landstinget.
The prosecutor said there are ‘exceptional grounds’ to detain the suspect as he will attempt to destroy evidence and flee the country.
Controversial police chief Eliasson, 54, has held several senior positions within the Swedish justice system.
After completing a law degree, and studying European Integration in Amsterdam, he went on to work on for the Swedish government both in the Foreign office and the Justice department.
He has since served in a number of positions, including acting head of the Swedish Security Service and the Ministry of Justice Chief of International Affairs.
A former lawyer, he was Director-General of the Swedish Migration Agency, from which he resigned in 2011, just before the migration crisis started.
He became the Director-General of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, the government agency for welfare benefits.
However, long before he embarked on a career in law and politics, he was a passionate musician.
In the late 1970s he was in a punk group called ‘Bad Boo Band’, who sang ‘Knulla i Bankok’ (F*** in Bankok), criticising Thailand’s sex tourism.
Earlier this week, Eliasson demanded 4,100 more police officers as Sweden struggles to cope with the new wave of migrant related crime.
He said: ‘We are forced to respond to many disturbances in asylum reception centres. In some places, this takes significant police resources.
‘This was not the case six months ago and it means that we won’t be able to respond as effectively in other areas.’
Miss Mezher’s friends and family gathered at a memorial service today in her hometown of Boras, 40 miles east of Gothenburg.
The psychology graduate, whose parents fled Beirut more than 25 years ago, was stabbed in the back and thigh on Monday in a block of flats housing ten youths aged 14 to 17.
Her mother wept bitterly as she remembered her ‘angel’ daughter.
Dressed entirely in black, Chiméne Mezher, 42, repeatedly broke down as she told mourners of her ‘utter devastation’.
A hundred friends and family came together in grief at a local church and cried for Alexandra.
They hugged each other as they gathered around a table with candles and a single framed photograph showing Alexandra wearing a mortarboard hat on her graduation day – the proudest moment of her mother’s life.
Grief-stricken friends brought pink and white roses, Alexandra’s favourite flowers.
The service at Korskyrkan church in Boras, was organised by Alexandra’s best friend Lejla Filipovic, 22, who said: ‘Everyone is in such shock.
‘The grief is still very raw. This is just a small service for family and close friends.
‘We would like people to see the photo of Alexandra and the flowers, but we do not want there to be photos of her mother and the people crying.’
Yesterday, Mrs Mezher, said: ‘We left Lebanon to escape the civil war, the violence and the danger. We came to Sweden where it was safe, to start our family. But it is not safe any more.
‘And I just want to know why… why Alexandra? She wanted to help them, but they did this. I just want answers.’
Her husband Bourous, 45, moved to Sweden from Beirut in 1989 and built up a pizza business. Mrs Mezher, who has three sons, said: ‘She was not just my daughter, she was my angel. She was a just and fair human being. There were so many who loved her. She was my daughter, my friend.’
She blamed Swedish politicians for a dramatic rise in immigration in Molndal, a suburb of Gothenburg, where a population of 60,000 has grown by 8,000 migrants in less than a year – 4,000 of whom are unaccompanied children.
Officers in Molndal say they have had to ignore lesser offences such as drug-dealing because they are so overrun by migrant crime, with gang fights and violent assaults.
And in capital Stockholm police this week warned that the capital’s main train station was ‘overrun’ by gangs of Moroccan street children ‘stealing and groping girls’.
Swedish police revealed they have sent plain-clothes officers to monitor swimming baths in Stockholm after increased reports of sexual harassment of girls and women.
Last night it was also claimed police had been forced to flee after being attacked by a mob of asylum seekers as they tried to relocate a ten-year-old boy amid allegations he had been ‘raped repeatedly’ at a refugee centre.
Miss Mezher had been working at the housing block since September.
Despite rules that staff should work in pairs, she had reportedly worked alone overnight and was attacked half an hour before her shift was due to end.
‘Two boys held him down. It is a very good intervention. Had he intended to hurt anyone else, then they have prevented that,’ said police spokesperson Peter Adlersson.
‘It is easy to become injured yourself when intervening in this kind of situation. We are very grateful for these kinds of actions.’
Police said Tuesday afternoon the forensic investigation of the scene of the crime is not yet completed, and that there are still question marks regarding the reason behind the attack.
Seven witnesses, all residents at the housing, have been moved to another accommodation and have all been interviewed by police.
Today, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven admitted that many people are fearful of attacks similar to the killing of Miss Mezher, because ‘Sweden receives so many children and youths arriving alone’.
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