Latest news with #GunnarStrommer
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sweden to hire prison cells in Estonia for up to 600 inmates
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden will send up to 600 criminals to serve their sentences in an Estonian prison under an agreement announced by the government on Wednesday aimed at reducing pressure on the country's overcrowded jails. From July next year, Sweden will be able to send men over 18 who are convicted of crimes ranging from murder to sexual offences to the prison in the Estonian city of Tartu. The agreement needs to be approved by parliament in both countries. "The whole prison will be placed at Sweden's disposal," Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told reporters. "Sweden's prison system .. is under tremendous pressures and in that situation needs a plan for expansion to deal with that." Sweden will pay 8,500 euros ($9,680) a month per inmate, a saving on the average 11,500 euros a month cost in Sweden. A wave of gang-related violence over the last decade has led to tougher laws and sentencing in Sweden pushing up the prison population. In May, around 7,300 inmates were held in 5,235 cells - an occupancy rate of 141%, figures from the Swedish Prison and Probation Service showed. Including standby accommodation, the occupancy rate was 96%. The Prison Service reckons 30,000 people could be locked up in Sweden in 10 years. Belgium and Norway have hired prison places in the Netherlands. Denmark has an agreement with Kosovo, a move heavily criticised by Danish human rights experts. ($1 = 0.8783 euros)
Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Sweden to hire prison cells in Estonia for up to 600 inmates
STOCKHOLM, June 4 (Reuters) - Sweden will send up to 600 criminals to serve their sentences in an Estonian prison under an agreement announced by the government on Wednesday aimed at reducing pressure on the country's overcrowded jails. From July next year, Sweden will be able to send men over 18 who are convicted of crimes ranging from murder to sexual offences to the prison in the Estonian city of Tartu. The agreement needs to be approved by parliament in both countries. "The whole prison will be placed at Sweden's disposal," Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told reporters. "Sweden's prison system .. is under tremendous pressures and in that situation needs a plan for expansion to deal with that." Sweden will pay 8,500 euros ($9,680) a month per inmate, a saving on the average 11,500 euros a month cost in Sweden. A wave of gang-related violence over the last decade has led to tougher laws and sentencing in Sweden pushing up the prison population. In May, around 7,300 inmates were held in 5,235 cells - an occupancy rate of 141%, figures from the Swedish Prison and Probation Service showed. Including standby accommodation, the occupancy rate was 96%. The Prison Service reckons 30,000 people could be locked up in Sweden in 10 years. Belgium and Norway have hired prison places in the Netherlands. Denmark has an agreement with Kosovo, a move heavily criticised by Danish human rights experts. ($1 = 0.8783 euros)
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Sweden to hire prison cells in Estonia for up to 600 inmates
Sweden to hire prison cells in Estonia for up to 600 inmates STOCKHOLM - Sweden will send up to 600 criminals to serve their sentences in an Estonian prison under an agreement announced by the government on Wednesday aimed at reducing pressure on the country's overcrowded jails. From July next year, Sweden will be able to send men over 18 who are convicted of crimes ranging from murder to sexual offences to the prison in the Estonian city of Tartu. The agreement needs to be approved by parliament in both countries. "The whole prison will be placed at Sweden's disposal," Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told reporters. "Sweden's prison system .. is under tremendous pressures and in that situation needs a plan for expansion to deal with that." Sweden will pay 8,500 euros ($9,680) a month per inmate, a saving on the average 11,500 euros a month cost in Sweden. A wave of gang-related violence over the last decade has led to tougher laws and sentencing in Sweden pushing up the prison population. In May, around 7,300 inmates were held in 5,235 cells - an occupancy rate of 141%, figures from the Swedish Prison and Probation Service showed. Including standby accommodation, the occupancy rate was 96%. The Prison Service reckons 30,000 people could be locked up in Sweden in 10 years. Belgium and Norway have hired prison places in the Netherlands. Denmark has an agreement with Kosovo, a move heavily criticised by Danish human rights experts. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Sweden detains suspected spy, TV reports diplomat is held
STOCKHOLM - Sweden's security service has detained a Swedish diplomat on suspicion of espionage, Swedish public television SVT reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified sources. The security service (SAPO) said it had detained a person on suspicion of spying after an operation in the Stockholm area in the last few days, but declined to give further information. "It is correct that we have a case where the suspicion is spying," SAPO spokesperson Karin Lutz told Reuters. "One person has been taken into custody." SVT said the suspect had been posted at a number of embassies around the world and that the case was being handled by the national security unit at the Swedish Prosecution Authority. Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told SVT the government had been informed and that the person in custody was suspected "on reasonable grounds" of espionage. Reasonable grounds is the lower of two grades of suspicion in Sweden. "The investigation has to be carried out and I don't want to preempt it," Strommer said in a statement to SVT. Anton Strand, the lawyer appointed to defend the person in custody, declined to comment. Swedish authorities have fretted in recent years about increasing threats from both foreign powers like Russia, China and Iran and groups engaging in actions ranging from violent attacks and hybrid warfare to corporate espionage. SAPO in March this year warned that foreign powers are operating in ways that threaten security, using hybrid activities to destabilise Sweden and Europe. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sweden detains suspected spy, TV reports diplomat is held
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's security service has detained a Swedish diplomat on suspicion of espionage, Swedish public television SVT reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified sources. The security service (SAPO) said it had detained a person on suspicion of spying after an operation in the Stockholm area in the last few days, but declined to give further information. "It is correct that we have a case where the suspicion is spying," SAPO spokesperson Karin Lutz told Reuters. "One person has been taken into custody." SVT said the suspect had been posted at a number of embassies around the world and that the case was being handled by the national security unit at the Swedish Prosecution Authority. Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told SVT the government had been informed and that the person in custody was suspected "on reasonable grounds" of espionage. Reasonable grounds is the lower of two grades of suspicion in Sweden. "The investigation has to be carried out and I don't want to preempt it," Strommer said in a statement to SVT. Anton Strand, the lawyer appointed to defend the person in custody, declined to comment. Swedish authorities have fretted in recent years about increasing threats from both foreign powers like Russia, China and Iran and groups engaging in actions ranging from violent attacks and hybrid warfare to corporate espionage. SAPO in March this year warned that foreign powers are operating in ways that threaten security, using hybrid activities to destabilise Sweden and Europe.
