Per Oskar "Pelle" Svensson (6 February 1943 – 17 December 2020) was a Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. His achievements included a silver medal at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

in the

light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

class and two gold medals at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in 1970 and 1971.Per Svensson
sports-reference.com
Swedish Olympic Committee

Wrestling career

Svensson, who started his career in wrestling in 1955, competed for the clubs Sundsvalls AIK and Heby BK. He won the Swedish Championships for the first time in 1962, competing in the 100 kg class. He won the Swedish Championships for thirteen consecutive years until his retirement in 1974. He competed at the

for the first time in 1963, ending up fourth. At the

held in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, Svensson won a silver medal in the

class. He also won two gold medals at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in 1969 and 1970 and two gold medals at the World Championships in 1970 and 1971, as well as three bronze medals at the European Championships in 1966, 1967, and 1968. As a wrestler he was nicknamed ''Pelle Swing'' in Sweden. Svensson was chairman of the Swedish Wrestling Federation () from 1993 to 1998, and a member of the board of the

International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(FILA) from 1990 to 2007. Svensson left his position as a member of the board of the FILA in protest of what he saw as a lack of willingness on the part of the FILA to fight

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

within the sport.

Legal career

Following his career in wrestling, Svensson pursued a career as a

and was noted for taking on several high-profile criminal cases. He first received attention when he filed a civil suit against a suspected murderer in the case of the disappearance of an eleven-year-old boy north of

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town i ...

in 1980 (known in Sweden as ''Johanfallet'', "the Johan Case"), together with the parents of the boy. The case ultimately ended in loss in the court of appeal, which ordered the parents to pay the court costs, and Svensson was criticized and accused of taking the case in order to receive media attention. In 1988, Svensson served as the defense attorney for

Juha Valjakkala Nikita Bergenström (formerly Juha Veikko Valjakkala, Aslak Valdemar Ahonen, and Nikita Joakim Fouganthine; 13 June 1965 – 27 February 2023) was a Finnish murderer convicted of the triple murder of a family in the northern Swedish community ...

, who was later convicted of the murder of three people in the village of

Åmsele Åmsele () is a locality situated in Vindeln Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Nor ...

(known in Sweden as ''Åmselemorden'', "the Åmsele Murders") earlier in the same year. In 2005 he wrote the book ''Utan nåd : grymhet utan gräns'' ("Without Mercy – Cruelty Beyond Limit") about the case. Svensson also served as the defense attorney to Lars Tingström (known in Sweden by the nickname ''Bombmannen'', "the Bomb-Man"), who was later convicted of three bomb attacks around

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 ...

. In 1996, Svensson published parts of what he said was a testament authored by Tingström shortly before his death in 1993. In the purported testament, Tingström wrote that he had given

Christer Pettersson Carl Gustaf Christer Pettersson (23 April 1947 – 29 September 2004) was a Swedish criminal who was a suspect in the 1986 assassination of Olof Palme, the Prime Minister of Sweden. In 1989 he was convicted of the murder in district court but ...

the instructions to assassinate Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. The journalist Gunnar Wall wrote an article in ''

Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...

'' where he accused Svensson of manipulating the testament from Tingström. A forensic investigation later proved the testament to be real. Svensson's information led the prosecutors to file an application for a new trial against Pettersson for the assassination of Palme, but this was rejected by the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. Svensson ended his career as a lawyer after

occupational burnout The ICD-11 of the World Health Organization (WHO) describes occupational burnout as a work-related phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. According to the WHO, symptoms include "feelings of e ...

, but continued to take cases after his retirement.

Personal life

Svensson was married and had three children. He lived in the small village of Njurunda outside

Västernorrland County Västernorrland County () is a county ('' län'') in the north of Sweden. It is bordered by the counties of Gävleborg, Jämtland, Västerbotten and the Gulf of Bothnia. The name ''Västernorrland'' means "Western Norrland", as it was in the ...

. Svensson died on 17 December 2020 after suffering from cancer. He was 77.

Wrestling achievements

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Svensson, Pelle 1943 births 2020 deaths Sportspeople from Sollefteå Olympic wrestlers for Sweden Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Wrestlers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Swedish male sport wrestlers 20th-century Swedish lawyers World Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics European Wrestling Championships medalists Deaths from cancer in Sweden Sportspeople from Västernorrland County European Wrestling Champions World Wrestling Champions 20th-century Swedish sportsmen