Shootings have become a scourge in Sweden in recent years, as criminal gangs have spread their tentacles in major urban centers, including the capital Stockholm.
Sixty people have been killed by bullets in Sweden this year, a record number in the Nordic country’s modern history, according to figures released today by the government.
Shootings have become a scourge in Sweden in recent years, as criminal gangs have spread their tentacles in major urban centers, including the capital Stockholm.
“Victims of gun violence have increased and unfortunately the number has set a new, bloody record this year,” Sweden’s Justice Minister Gunnar Strömer told reporters. According to him, Sweden has 60 people killed by bullets this year, compared to four in Norway, four in Denmark and two in Finland. The phenomenon is the “tip of the iceberg” of violence and organized crime rooted deep in layers of our society, Stromer said.
Last year, 45 people were killed by bullets in Sweden. In 2012 it was just 17, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.
Stromer announced the creation of a special council, under the Ministry of Justice, which will be in charge of coordinating actions to fight organized crime. “No decent society can accept that every week one person is shot dead in the street,” he stressed.
Until 20 years ago, Sweden had one of the lowest crime rates in the world, but now the data has changed drastically and records much increased indicators.
The previous Social Democrat-led government had strengthened the police and imposed tougher penalties for gun violence, among other measures to fight organized crime. One of the major reasons she lost the September election was that her efforts proved insufficient.
Ulf Kristerson’s conservative government has announced strict controls across the country, doubling sentences for gang-related crimes and expanding criminal surveillance, in what it describes as the biggest effort to fight organized crime in Sweden’s modern history.
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