32 years ago today Swedish premier Olof Palme was assassinated

32 years ago today Swedish Premier Olof Palme was assassinated. His murder remains unsolved.

Palme was walking back from a cinema to ride a subway home after watching a film with his wife and was attacked by a lone gunman who immediately fled the scene.

Numerous investigations have failed to solve the murder after an initial conviction of manslaughter of Christer Pettersson was overturned by a Swedish court. After he was killed Swedish law was changed to extend the 25-year limit to murder investigations to allow his murder investigation to remain open.

Olof Palme in 1974. Source: The Swedish National Archive

Numerous theories have been developed to solve his killing, all inconclusive. These include suggestions that his killing was ordered by the Yugoslav Security Service, the South African Apartheid regime, or the CIA.

As prime minster Sweden was a staunch follower of non-aligned policies towards the superpowers. He supported African liberation movements and developed close relations with Tanzania under President Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, a leader whose government was in the forefront of providing support to Africa's liberation movements.