Claes Gustaf Borgström (21 July 1944 – 15 May 2020) was a Swedish lawyer and politician. He served as

Equality Ombudsman The Equality Ombudsman ( sv, Diskrimineringsombudsmannen, , discrimination ombudsman, DO; formerly sv, Jämställdhetsombudsmannen, , equality ombudsman, label=none, JämO) is a government agency in Sweden tasked with supervising the laws relati ...

(''JämO'') from 2000 until 2007. A member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

prior to 2013, he joined the Left Party in that year.

Education

Borgström earned a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gr ...

(juris kandidat) from

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, s ...

in 1974.

Career

After earning his law degree, Borgström began working as a lawyer, taking several high-profile criminal cases. Between 2000 and 2007, Borgström served the

Swedish government The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden ( sv, Konungariket Sveriges regering) is the Cabinet (government), national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's Executive (government), executive authority. The Government consists of the Prime Minister ...

(''JämO''). Borgström expressed his dislike of this job to his client

Sture Bergwall Sture Ragnar Bergwall (born 26 April 1950), also known as Thomas Quick from 1993–2002, is a Swedish man previously believed to have been a serial killer, having confessed to more than 30 murders while detained in a mental institution for pers ...

. He described the job as boring, and he would not stay for the full tenancy. After the defeat of the Social Democrats in the

2006 election The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential ...

, Borgström resigned to start a

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to ...

together with former Social Democratic

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a Ministry (government department), ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of ju ...

Thomas Bodström Thomas Lennart Bodström (born 9 April 1962) is a Swedish former politician of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. He is also a former footballer, and is best remembered for representing Allsvenskan side AIK between 1987 and 1989. Thomas Bo ...

. Borgström himself had plans of becoming the Minister of Justice if the Social Democrats had won the election in 2010, according to his client Sture Bergwall. According to Bergwall, Borgström was quoted as saying of Bodström: "I have no high thoughts of Thomas Bodström. It is actually unimaginable how the current Minister of Justice was chosen for his post. He is a shallow person." From 2008, Borgström was the Swedish Social Democratic Party's spokesperson on questions regarding

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

. In a 2004 interview, Borgström stated that men carry a

collective responsibility Collective responsibility, also known as collective guilt, refers to responsibilities of organizations, groups and societies. Collective responsibility in the form of collective punishment is often used as a disciplinary measure in closed insti ...

for

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against woman, women or Girl, girls, usually by Man, men or Boy, boys. Such ...

, but emphasized the difference between collective responsibility and collective guilt. In this context, he voiced certain support for

Gudrun Schyman Gerd ''Gudrun'' Maria Schyman (born 9 June 1948) is a Swedish politician. She served as leader of the Swedish Left Party from 1993 until January 2003. She remained a member of the Left Party until 2004, when she left to focus entirely on her fem ...

's proposal of a "male tax" in order to pay for the costs of violence against women and other issues regarding gender equality. He attracted attention in March 2006, when he demanded that Sweden boycott the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

in Germany "in protest against the increase in the

trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are variou ...

of women that the event is expected to result in". In 2010, Borgström successfully appealed the decision to close the sexual assault case against

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...

founder

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army i ...

, and became the legal representative of the two Swedish women against whom the Swedish police have accused Assange of sexual misconduct. However, it seems the relationship soured, and he was replaced with

Elisabeth Massi Fritz Elisabeth Massi Fritz (born 24 July 1967) is a Swedish lawyer who has received recognition as counsel for an injured party for female victims of crime. She has received the Karin Söder commemoration award. She grew up in Motala in a family cha ...

. In 2013, citing his dissatisfaction with what he referred to as the right-leaning changes in the

, Borgström left the Social Democrats and joined Left Party.

Personal life

Borgström was born in Stockholm. His father was Gustaf Borgström, CEO of ''Sveriges Köpmannaförbund'' ("Swedish Merchants' Association") from 1942 until 1957. Borgström is also the brother of journalists Annette Kullenberg and Kerstin Vinterhed. He married his former colleague Märit Borgström (''née'' Röger) in

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bale ...

in 2007. He had three children from an earlier marriage. Borgström died in Stockholm on 15 May 2020, after developing

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden The COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden is part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , there have been confirmed cumulative cases and deaths with confirmed COVID-19 in Swe ...

aged 75.

References

External links

*
Borgström accused of making inappropriately demeaning public statements about Julian Assange
Accessed 19 August 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Borgstrom, Claes 1944 births 2020 deaths Politicians from Stockholm 20th-century Swedish lawyers Stockholm University alumni Ombudsmen in Sweden Swedish Social Democratic Party politicians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden