Killer Expelled From Medical School In Sweden

Can a person capable of murder reform enough to become a doctor? That is a debate in Sweden where Karl Svensson was expelled because of his involvement in the 2000 shooting of Bjorn Soderberg.

Svensson had been enrolled at Karolinska institute for four months before it was revealed that he had served seven years for Soderberg's death. Debates are now brewing on whether a person could reform enough after a murder conviction to become a physician. Students are mixed about the topic.

We talked about it when it emerged and it was in the paper," said Elin, 21, a biomedicine student who did not want her last name used because the topic was sensitive on campus.

"People felt it was strange that he should be allowed to become a doctor," she said. "On the other hand, people change. Maybe he's become a better person."

The expulsion came after the revelation but that was not the grounds that sent Svensson packing. There were irregularities on the grades from his high school records that had been submitted with his application. Those irregularities were found from a background check. Part of the reason that Svensson had avoided confrontation about his criminal past was that he has a new name. When he was convicted he went by Hampus Hellekant. Hellekant is an alleged neo-Nazi sympathizer. Soderberg was a labour union activist who had denounced a co-worker who belonged to a neo-Nazi organization. Because of this case the Education Minister of Sweden Lars Leijonborg has been prompted to "discuss whether there is a need to change the regulations surrounding students who have committed crimes."