Sweden proposes law for anonymous testimonies to combat rising gang violence

Stockholm police were alerted September 29 of gunshots being fired near a restaurant in Rissne, a northwestern neighborhood of the capital. Two people were injured in front of several witnesses. Shortly after, two men were arrested and charged with attempted murder.

The shooting is one of the latest among hundreds recorded in 2024. According to police, the shooting was linked to organized crime. Far from its idyllic image, Sweden is facing an exacerbated wave of violence stemming from criminal groups battling for control over arms and drug trafficking for over a decade.

“Breaking the culture of silence”

The conservative government, which came to power in September 2022 with the support of the far-right, has made fighting these networks a priority. It proposed a bill that would allow the use of anonymous witnesses in investigations and trials. At a press conference, Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer emphasized that “criminal gangs threaten and silence witnesses.” The reform, he said, aims to “protect witnesses, break the culture of silence, and ensure that more serious crimes lead to prosecution.”

However, the bill has sparked strong criticism, particularly from civil advocates. Mia Edwall Insulander, Secretary-General of the Swedish Bar Association, stated that allowing anonymous witnesses would not only be “a violation of the rule of law” but also “a fundamental break from Swedish legal tradition,” which holds that “the accused has the right to know who they must defend themselves against.”

The government maintained its position, specifying that anonymous testimony will only be allowed in exceptional cases, at the court’s discretion, and for crimes punishable by at least two years in prison. Additionally, it must be shown that there is “a tangible risk that the witnesses or their relatives could be victims of a serious crime.”

1,000 shootings in two years

The proposal will allow courts to weigh witness protection against the legal security of the accused. Andreas Ljungholm, an analyst at the National Human Rights Institute in Sweden, believed that “in practice, anonymous testimonies will rarely be authorized” and that “their legal value will ultimately be very limited.”

This proposed bill comes amid a heated debate on crime in Sweden, with the opposition accusing the government of not taking effective action against organized crime. Since 2022, the country has seen nearly 1,000 shootings, over 100 of them fatal. For the opposition, far from being a solution, anonymous testimony is, above all, a “symbolic measure,” according to Green Party MP Rasmus Ling. “The government promised this law to voters, and now it doesn’t dare back down,” he said.

Source link : https://international.la-croix.com/world/sweden-proposes-law-for-anonymous-testimonies-to-combat-rising-gang-violence

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Publish date : 2024-10-04 10:19:04

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