He survived assassination attempts, was forced to live at a secret address and has been hailed worldwide for his fight for freedom of speech. On Sunday, the controversial Swedish artist Lars Vilks lost his life in a traffic accident in Sweden.
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– It’s been a long time since I lived a normal life. It’s not nice, but I’ve been hardened. The threats have become a habit, said Lars Vilks in an interview with Svenska Dagbladet just over a week ago.
Sunday he lost his life in an accident.
The civilian police car that Vilks was in is said to have crossed into the opposite lane and crashed with a truck, writes the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.
– With the information I have now, it indicates that it is an accident. But we are in a very early phase, said Anders Jakobsson in the Swedish prosecution, to Expressen.
Two policemen who were set to protect Vilks also died in the accident, and the truck driver is said to have been taken to hospital.
It is with horror and great sadness that I have received the message that our two colleagues and the person under protection died. My thoughts go to those affected, families, friends and colleagues, it is said in a statement from National Police Chief Anders Thornberg reproduced by Aftonbladet.
The police will hold a press conference about the incident at 10.15 on Monday.
“Extremely tragic”
– So unbelievably sad that it should end like this, writes the Swedish Minister of Culture Amanda Lind on Twitter – who calls the accident extremely tragic.
The party leader for the Center Party, Annie Löof, calls it “a terrible tragedy”.
– I am thinking of the families of the deceased, close relatives, friends and colleagues. Two police officers who never return home after work, died in the work of defending our democracy, she writes on Twitter.
The party leader for the Sweden Democrats Jimmi Åkesson also expresses his condolences on his Facebook page.
– It is with great horror that this evening I have received information that the artist and freedom of expression activist, Lars Vilks, as well as two police officers have died in a tragic car accident. My thoughts go to the relatives of the deceased.
–– This is an extremely tragic event. Now it is important for all of us that we do everything we can to find out what happened on the spot and what caused the collision, while we take care of our employees, says Stefan Sintéus, head of the department responsible for police protection in region South to Aftonbladet.
The newspaper further writes that it is expected that the investigation will take time. Monday morning, the E4 was still closed, but the Swedish Road Traffic Center tells Aftonbladet that they expect to be able to open the road again at some point on Monday.
Attempted murder
Vilks is best known for drawing two pictures of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 2007. The drawings created great controversy, and led, among other things, to Vilks being subjected to attempted murder on two occasions.
The cartoons met with strong reactions, and at one point the terrorist organization al-Qaeda promised $ 100,000 in bounty to the person who killed him.
–Vilks has lived with police protection for several years, and in 2010 seven people were arrested in Ireland, suspected of having planned to kill the artist.
In 2015, Vilks was exposed to a attempted murder when he participated in a debate on freedom of expression in Copenhagen. The artist was unharmed from the attack in the cultural center Krudttønden, but the Danish documentary filmmaker Finn Nørgaard was shot and killed, and three policemen were injured.
