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Swedish thieves head west for rich Norwegians

Police in the Norwegian capital have reported a surge in robberies from Swedish gang members who've crossed the border to prey on their wealthier neighbours.

Published: 4 February 2014 10:59 CET

Swedish thieves head west for rich Norwegians

Swedish gang members from Stockholm and Gothenburg have headed west to Oslo to make the most of their anonymity in Norway and to reap the benefits of wealthy neighbours.

"We have seen a development in recent years where more and more criminals are arriving in Norway from Sweden, and it looks like the trend will continue this year as well," Geir Ellefsen of the Oslo police said in a statement.

The comments came after four Swedish citizens were arrested on Monday, charged with carrying out four burglaries in Oslo in just one week.

Three of the four Swedes were of Somali descent, while the fourth was Iraqi. Oslo police believe the group committed at lease five of the total 30 burglaries reported in the city in January.

Read the full story on The Local Norway here.

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Over a thousand people join protest against Stockholm attack

The demonstration, which was organised by the Left Party and the Green Party together with Expo, an anti-extremist magazine, was held outside the Moment theatre, where masked assailants attacked a lecture organised by the two parties on Wednesday.

In the attack, the assailants – described as Nazis by Expo – let off smoke grenades and assaulted several people, three of whom were hospitalised.

“Let’s say it how it is: this was a terror attack and that is something we can never accept,” said Amanda Lind, who is expected to be voted in as the joint leader of the Green Party on Sunday.

She said that those who had attended the lecture had hoped to swap ideas about how to combat racism.

“Instead they had to experience smoke bombs, assault and were forced to think ‘have they got weapons’?. The goal of this attack was to use violence to generate fear and silence people,” she said.

EXPLAINED: What we know about the attack on a Swedish anti-fascist meeting

More than a thousand people gathered to protest the attack on a theatre in Gubbängen, Stockholm. Photo: Oscar Olsson/TT

Nooshi Dadgostar, leader of the Left Party, said that that society needed to stand up against this type of extreme-right violence.

“We’re here today to show that which should be obvious: we will not give up, we will stand up for ourselves, and we shall never be silenced by racist violence,” said said.

Sofia Zwahlen, one of the protesters at the demonstration, told the DN newspaper that it felt positive that so many had turned up to show their opposition to the attacks.

“It feels extremely good that there’s been this reaction, that we are coming together. I’m always a little worried about going to this sort of demonstration. But this feels safe.”

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