Claes Gustaf Borgström (21 July 1944 – 15 May 2020) was a Swedish lawyer and politician. He served as

Equality Ombudsman The Equality Ombudsman (, DO; formerly , JämO) is a government agency in Sweden tasked with supervising the laws relating to discrimination on the basis of someone's sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion Religion is ...

(''JämO'') from 2000 until 2007. A member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

prior to 2013, he joined the Left Party in that year.

Education

Borgström earned a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

(juris kandidat) from

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

in 1974.

Career

After earning his law degree, Borgström began working as a lawyer, taking several high-profile criminal cases. Between 2000 and 2007, Borgström served the

Swedish government The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden () is the national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's executive authority. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and their cabinet ministers (). The Government is responsible for its actions ...

(''JämO''). Borgström expressed his dislike of this job to his client

Sture Bergwall Sture Ragnar Bergwall (born 26 April 1950), also known as Thomas Quick from 1993–2002, is a Swedes, Swedish man previously believed to have been a serial killer, having confessed to more than 30 murders while detained in a mental institution fo ...

. He described the job as boring, and he would not stay for the full tenancy. After the defeat of the Social Democrats in the 2006 election, Borgström resigned to start a

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

together with former Social Democratic

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Thomas Bodström. Borgström himself had plans of becoming the Minister of Justice if the Social Democrats had won the election in 2010, according to his client Sture Bergwall. According to Bergwall, Borgström was quoted as saying of Bodström: "I have no high thoughts of Thomas Bodström. It is actually unimaginable how the current Minister of Justice was chosen for his post. He is a shallow person." From 2008, Borgström was the Swedish Social Democratic Party's spokesperson on questions regarding

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

. In a 2004 interview, Borgström stated that men carry a

collective responsibility Collective responsibility or collective guilt is the responsibility of organizations, groups and societies. Collective responsibility in the form of collective punishment is often used as a disciplinary measure in closed institutions, e.g., b ...

for

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...

, but emphasized the difference between collective responsibility and collective guilt. In this context, he voiced certain support for

Gudrun Schyman Gerd ''Gudrun'' Maria Schyman (born 9 June 1948) is a Swedish politician. She served as leader of the Swedish Left Party (Sweden), Left Party from 1993 until January 2003. She remained a member of the Left Party until 2004, when she left to focus ...

's proposal of a "male tax" to pay for the costs of violence against women and other issues regarding gender equality. He attracted attention in March 2006, when he demanded that Sweden boycott the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

in Germany "in protest against the increase in the

trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

of women that the event is expected to result in". In 2010, Borgström successfully appealed the decision to close the sexual assault case against

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...

founder

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...

, and became the legal representative of the two Swedish women against whom the Swedish police have accused Assange of sexual misconduct. However, it seems the relationship soured, and he was replaced with Elisabeth Massi Fritz. In 2013, citing his dissatisfaction with what he referred to as the right-leaning changes in the

, Borgström left the Social Democrats and joined Left Party.

Personal life

Borgström was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. His father was Gustaf Borgström, CEO of ''Sveriges Köpmannaförbund'' ("Swedish Merchants' Association") from 1942 until 1957. Borgström is also the brother of journalists Annette Kullenberg and Kerstin Vinterhed. He married his former colleague Märit Borgström (''née'' Röger) in

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

in 2007. He had three children from an earlier marriage. Borgström died in Stockholm on 15 May 2020, after developing

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden aged 75.

References

External links

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Borgström accused of making inappropriately demeaning public statements about Julian Assange
Retrieved 19 August 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Borgstrom, Claes 1944 births 2020 deaths Politicians from Stockholm 20th-century Swedish lawyers Stockholm University alumni Ombudsmen in Sweden Swedish Social Democratic Party politicians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden