Sweden’s Minister of Justice fears that gang crime will get worse before the situation turns for the better.
At the turn of the day, a new law comes into force in Sweden, which gives the police the opportunity to use so-called preventive coercive measures.
According to Expressen, the new law makes it possible, for example, to listen to people who are not suspected of a crime, but may commit serious crimes.
In the past, a similar approach could be used against suspected spies and terrorists. Swedish Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer has called the gang crime situation internal terrorism.
– When I describe this as internal terrorism, it’s not just playing with words, but it also leads to a partly different toolkit, Strömmer said on TV4’s Nyhetsmorgon program.
A long battle ahead
Strömmer also said on TV4’s Nyhetsmorgon program that he is afraid that gang crime will not get rid of it in an instant, rather the opposite.
– It must be assumed that this situation will continue, and it can get even worse before the situation gets better, Strömmer said.
A dozen people have already been killed in gang-related violence in Sweden in September.
Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson said in a speech earlier this week that Sweden’s current legislation was not designed for “gang warfare and child soldiers”.
Kristersson has found it particularly problematic that gangs systematically use minors to commit acts of violence because of the lighter sentences they receive.