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Of: TT
Published:
February 1 | Photo: Stina Stjernkvist / TT
The party secretary of the Moderates, Gunnar Strömmer (M), wants to see legislation against the activity of criminal gangs. Stock Photography.
The moderates want it to be illegal to be part of a criminal gang.
But the introduction of such legislation may require changes to the constitution, so the party sent a letter to the government to investigate the issue during this period.
According to the secretary of the party of the moderates, Gunnar Strömmer, legislation against gang activity can be an “essential tool” in the fight against the escalation of gang crime.
– I think everyone sees that we have ended up in a situation where we have no control over crime. There are current examples from Gothenburg where criminals set up roadblocks or have large gatherings in hotels in the city center with no legal action to intervene, he tells TT.
On the other hand, making it illegal to join or have contact with a gang is not entirely straightforward. Last year, the government withdrew a similar proposal, but then the issue concerned participation in a terrorist organization.
Amendments to the Constitution
According to the Legal Council, the proposal was in conflict with constitutional freedom of association and therefore ended in a constitutional investigation that will be reported in March next year. In the same investigation, M now wants the issue of gang crime to be investigated as well.
– We believe that there are many indications that you should see the problems in parallel and deal with them at the same time because they are very close, both legally and objectively. For the investigation to address the issue of gang crime, the government must supplement the directives in the constitutional committee to include this task, says Gunnar Strömmer.
To make changes to the Constitution, the Riksdag must make decisions during two electoral periods. Therefore, M wants the government to respond promptly to the letter that was sent on Sunday.
Denmark is a good example
After a spring in the sign of the corona pandemic, Sweden has been rocked during the summer by the most notable shootings and the temporarily dormant debate on gang crime has received a new boost.
– Basically, it is about gang crime having reached a level and a prevalence that has made it clear that it has not been accessed with traditional tools, says Gunnar Strömmer.
It draws parallels with the work of other European countries against similar types of crime, including Denmark, where five Swedes with ties to gang activities earlier this week were sentenced to lengthy prison terms after a double murder on Danish soil.
– If we look at Denmark, the criminalization of being part of or having contact with gangs has been very effective. And there are other similar tools for breaking patterns, Strömmer says.
No closed doors
Justice Minister Morgan Johansson (S) says in a written comment to TT that he does not close any doors regarding the criminalization of gang activities. On the other hand, Johansson sees a problem in that today’s gangs are more often described as loosely-composed networks, where members come and go.
“Gangs would run the risk of falling outside the definition that such legislation would require,” he says.
However, according to Gunnar Strömmer, Swedish law may seek lessons learned from other European countries.
– It is clear that there may be challenges to prove who or who is part of a criminal network or a gang. But there are methods in other countries that we can learn from, and it’s basically systematic intelligence work to gather information about networks, he says.
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