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Per Wastberg, who co-founded the Swedish branch of Amnesty International, resigned from the organization on Wednesday. The Swedish activist said his departure was due to Amnesty's report about the conflict in Ukraine, and that the organization has gone beyond its original mandate to advocate for political prisoners.
"I have been a member for over 60 years. It is with a heavy heart that, due to Amnesty's statements regarding the war in Ukraine, I am ending a long and fruitful engagement," Wastberg told the newspaper
Svenska Dagbladet, where he is an occasional columnist.
"From its inception, Amnesty worked for the freedom of political prisoners everywhere in the world," said Wastberg, who co-founded the Swedish branch in 1964. "It has since gradually, sometimes debatably, expanded its mandate" and become a different kind of organization, he added.
Comment: Add this to a long and sad list of individuals and people from all ages and walks of life who have had their lives tragically cut short by cardiac arrest and a host of other ailments that have come on suddenly and fatally: