In April, a 17-year-old convicted of murder was acquitted by masked people in connection with a visit to the dentist in Södertälje. And on Monday, two 14-year-old boys, both suspected of involvement in shootings in Stockholm, escaped from the Sis home Nereby outside Gothenburg.
The next day, the Ombudsman for Justice (JO), who made an unannounced inspection of the home in February, directed scathing criticism at the facility. The premises are described, among other things, as directly unsuitable for children and young people.
The escapes have led to a discussion about the safety of both criminal transports and the special youth homes. However, its security director, Christer Johansson, believes that the operation is working.
– I would say that we have a high level of security today, he said in SVT’s Morgonstudion.
Getting counterstabbed
Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) does not agree with that assessment.
– Of course, one cannot agree that the security or the security routines or the planning around security has been good enough. I think that is obvious to most people, he says to SVT Nyheter.
However, he admits that Sis has made progress in recent years.
– But you start in a situation where security has been far too low and it is clear that you are not yet finished with that work.
More actions
Both Sis and the Correctional Service, which is responsible for transport, have been tasked to “quickly come up with an action plan to prevent it from happening again”.
At the same time, Strömmer believes that the right to mobile phones and tablets must be limited and that the most serious criminals should be in special youth prisons rather than in Sis homes.
He hopes that a mobile phone ban will be in place in the near future.
– There is no doubt that as soon as possible we will have new rules which mean that you cannot use mobile phones and tablets in an unlimited way, he says.