William Nils Erich Petzäll (26 August 1988 – 1 September 2012) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

politician, former member of the Sweden Democrats and Chairman of the

Sweden Democratic Youth Sweden Democrat Youth ( sv, Sverigedemokratisk Ungdom ; SDU) was the youth league of the Swedish political party Sweden Democrats until 12 September 2015. Background The youth league was founded in 1993 as an independent youth league to its ...

. At the

2010 Swedish general election General elections were held in Sweden on 19 September 2010 to elect the 349 members of the Riksdag. The main contenders of the election were the governing centre-right coalition the Alliance, consisting of the Moderate Party, the Centre Party, ...

he was elected to be the parliamentary representative for

Dalarna County Dalarna County ( sv, Dalarnas län) is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden (Svealand). It borders on the counties of Uppsala, Jämtland, Gävleborg, Västmanland, Örebro and Värmland. It also borders on the Norwegian counties of Hedmar ...

(Sweden Democrat MP). In 2011, Petzäll discontinued his commitment to the

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

that he had been serving up until that point in time. Until his departure from the Sweden Democrats, Petzäll was employed as a

press secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Dut ...

, in addition to his primary role as the

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

leader for the Sweden Democrats' immigration policy program commission.

Political career

Born in

Filipstad Filipstad is a locality and the seat of Filipstad Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with 10,644 inhabitants in 2019. Filipstad was granted city privileges in 1611 by Charles IX of Sweden, who named it after his son Duke Carl Philip (1601&n ...

Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are '' ...

, Sweden, Petzäll was active in the

(SDU) and the Sweden Democrats.

Borås

He was a member of the municipal assembly in

Borås Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 66,273 inhabitants in 2010. Geography Borås is located at the point of two crossing railways, among them th ...

, between the years 2006 and 2010. During a

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

cruise in 2009, Petzäll and several other SDU members were caught on tape singing nationalist songs and he later stated that the songs were performed ironically.

Dalarna

When the Sweden Democrats entered the Riksdag in the 2010 Swedish general election, Petzäll accepted a seat for the electoral district of the province of

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norwa ...

. Later that year, on 20 November 2010, Petzäll was elected the chairman of the Sweden Democratic Youth.

Fatal drug abuse

On 6 February 2011, Petzäll was taken into temporary custody for public intoxication. He took some time off from the Riksdag for

drug rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general intent i ...

. He returned on 25 March and publicly promised to never drink again, but had a relapse three months later. According to Swedish newspaper '' Expressen'', party chairman

Jimmie Åkesson Per Jimmie Åkesson (; born 17 May 1979) is a Swedish politician and author, serving as leader of the Sweden Democrats since 2005. He has been a member of the Riksdag (SD) for Jönköping County since 2010. He previously served as leader of ...

urged Petzäll to give up his Riksdag seat, but he declined. On 26 September, he announced that he would act as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

politician focusing on

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...

issues. On 1 September 2012, Petzäll was found dead in his mother's home in

Varberg Varberg () is a locality and the seat of Varberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 35,782 inhabitants in 2019. Varberg and all of Halland are well known for their "typical west coast" sandy beaches. In Varberg the coast changes from ...

after an apparent overdose.

References

External links

William Petzäll
at the Riksdag website {{DEFAULTSORT:Petzall, William 1988 births 2012 deaths Drug-related deaths in Sweden Members of the Riksdag from the Sweden Democrats People from Filipstad Swedish cannabis activists 21st-century Swedish politicians