Executed

Executed? Isn’t that an exaggeration? She’s still breathing, isn’t she?

The term is borrowed from Per Lindeberg, who wrote the definitive book on the infamous dismemberment murder case. He speaks of a ＂social execution.＂ Birgitte Bonnesen, former CEO of Swedbank, has been socially executed. She was fired, her contract with the bank was terminated by Göran Persson without any stated reason. She has been publicly shamed in the press for months and years. First acquitted, then convicted of gross fraud.

In the dismemberment case, at least there was a crime to be innocent of. Here, there is nothing-except journalists who get everything wrong, legal authorities eagerly acting as the mob’s enforcers, and a court that fails to understand the very evidence it relies on to convict.

Yes, executed. This is a horror story.

Jan Söderqvist is an author, writer, editor, and lecturer. Together with Alexander Bard, he has co-authored six books, including The Netocrats and the latest Process and Event, which have been translated into more than 20 languages. He is also the author of IceBorg, the unauthorized biography of Björn Borg, now being published in English.