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KRIMINALVÅRDEN

Fugitives benefit from statute of limitations

Hundreds of convicted individuals who were on the run and evaded capture for a sufficiently long period of time have had their prison sentences barred under the statute of limitations. And the number has grown steadily over the last several years, reported Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper.

In 2002, the sentences for 15 convicts were barred. In 2007, the number was 74 and in the first seven months of 2008, an additional 54 fugitives had their sentences barred.

According to Fredrik Wilhelmsson, deputy head of the client and security unit at the Swedish Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalvården), there are few hardcore criminals involved and the runaways in question usually only have a few more months left of their sentences.

He told SvD that the most common type of runaway are is some who was not remanded into custody and who did not report to prison.

Those who have been remanded into custody are usually convicted of more serious crimes and are transported directly from jail to prison. They are often held in secure facilities at the beginning of their sentences, which makes it more difficult to escape.

A review of the regulations governing statutes of limitations is under review at the Ministry of Justice and a proposal is expected next spring.

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IMMIGRATION

‘Difficult’ asylum seekers put in Swedish prison

"Desperate" asylum seekers awaiting deportation from Sweden have been placed in a prison after the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket) deemed them too hard to handle.

'Difficult' asylum seekers put in Swedish prison

A special section of the Skogome prison in Gothenburg has been opened to house asylum seekers who have been denied refugee status in Sweden and are set to be deported.

“Those we’ve taken from the Migration Board are those they can’t deal with because they are too complicated; they are acting up or desperate,” Christer Isaksson, head of security with the Swedish Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalvården), told Sveriges Radio (SR).

Previously, rejected asylum seekers have been housed in remand centres where they were often isolated and had limited access to telephones or visitors.

The facility opening up at the Gothenburg prison, which is expected to have space for seven people, was touted as an improvement by prison officials.

But the Migration Board’s decision to hand responsibility for rejected asylum seekers to the Swedish prison system doesn’t sit well with officials at human rights group Amnesty.

“It’s not right for people who haven’t been convicted or suspected of a crime to be placed in a prison environment,” Amnesty’s Madelaine Seidlitz told SR.

Migration officials contend, however, that they are unable to guarantee the safety of the individuals to be housed in the prison.

TT/The Local/dl

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