Laila Freivalds

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Laila Freivalds
Laila Freivalds in November 2004
Acting Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden
In office 1 October 2004 – 1 November 2004
Prime Minister	Göran Persson
Preceded by	Jan O. Karlsson
Succeeded by	Bo Ringholm
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 10 October 2003 – 21 March 2006
Prime Minister	Göran Persson
Preceded by	Jan O. Karlsson (Acting)
Succeeded by	Bo Ringholm (Acting)
Minister for Justice
In office 7 October 1994 – 21 September 2000
Prime Minister	Ingvar Carlsson Göran Persson
Preceded by	Gun Hellsvik
Succeeded by	Lena Hjelm-Wallén
In office 4 October 1988 – 4 October 1991
Prime Minister	Ingvar Carlsson
Preceded by	Thage G. Peterson
Succeeded by	Gun Hellsvik
Personal details
Born	(1942-06-22) 22 June 1942 (age 82) Riga, Reichskommissariat Ostland (now Latvia)
Political party	Social Democratic
Alma mater	Uppsala University

Laila Freivalds (born 22 June 1942) is a

Following the assassination of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh on 11 September 2003, Freivalds was asked to succeed her as Minister for Foreign Affairs.

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Laila Freivalds was severely criticised in the Swedish press for the way the

On 21 March 2006, she resigned from her office as minister of foreign affairs, after it was confirmed that she lied to media about her involvement in the closing of a website belonging to the Sweden Democrats, in the wake of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. During the controversy the Sweden Democrats published a similar cartoon on their web pages, only to be shut down shortly after by their internet service provider. It was initially discovered that the government had been in contact with the provider and suggested to them the closure, but Freivalds maintained to the media that a subordinate had done so without her knowledge.

Offentlighetsprincipen (The Principle of Public Access) – a

Most journalists suggest that the turning point came after Göran Persson, the Prime Minister of Sweden during this time, publicly criticized the civil servant who suggested to the Internet host that they close the website, only to find out later that he had acted with the approval of Freivalds. It is theorised but not confirmed that the prime minister privately suggested that she resign, which she subsequently did.