Swedish Social Democrats want emergency measures against gang violence

The Swedish government should announce a weapons amnesty, rewards for tips on illegal weapons or even call in the army, said former prime Minister and Social Democrats’ party leader Magdalena Andersson at a press conference on Tuesday, reacting to recent gang violence that claimed more lives last week in Stockholm county. R

Last week, seven people were shot within 24 hours in the greater Stockholm area: two young men were shot in Solna, one in Jordbro on Friday evening, followed by four others, including a boy aged 15 on Saturday evening near Farsta Centrum in southern Stockholm.

That was enough to reignite the public debate on gang violence in Sweden, which has increased tenfold since the 1990s.

“The summer risks becoming a recruitment festival for criminals”, said former Prime minister and current Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson during a press conference on Tuesday.

“The government is not spending enough money on crime prevention and does not seem to have a plan for the summer,” she added.

According to the opposition party in power from 2014 to 2022, a temporary gun amnesty should be introduced “as soon as possible”.

“We have the experience of 2018 when more than 12,000 weapons were handed into the authorities,” said Ardalan Shekarabi, the party’s legal policy spokesperson.

They also want to introduce a reward for tips on illegal weapons, which Shekarabi says are used in other countries.

In addition, the Social Democrats want children and young people to be “pinpointed” to stop recruitment to gangs and for the police, the prosecution service and customs to be given clearer instructions via letters of appropriation.

The Social Democrats have been in power for eight years and lost a significant number of votes to the right-wing Moderates and even more to the far-right Sweden Democrats because of the rampant insecurity that has developed in Sweden during the terms of former prime ministers Stefan Löfven and Magdalena Andersson.

“This development, with so many young people now ready to step in and carry out very serious crimes, is a development we have seen now, and I would have liked to see us take tougher measures earlier”, said Andersson when asked if it was time for some self-criticism.

In 2018, the far-right Sweden Democrats suggested that the military could be used to fight the gangs, a possibility that then-prime minister Stefan Löfven was open to.

“It’s not something that the police are asking for or judge to be something that could quickly break the trend, but if the police judge that it would be helpful, it is of course something I would be prepared to consider.”, she said, when asked if deploying the military to solve gang problems is a solution.

(Charles Szumski | EURACTIV.com)