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CRIME

Government plans amnesty to get grenades off Sweden’s streets

The Swedish government wants an amnesty period where grenades can be handed in to the police without punishment in an effort to get the explosives off the country's streets, Dagens Nyheter (DN) reports.

Published: 30 November 2017 08:54 CET
Government plans amnesty to get grenades off Sweden's streets
File photo of grenades from Bosnia that were confiscated on their way to Stockholm. Photo: Bosnian Police/TT

The hope is that criminals will choose to give up some of the grenades that are in circulation during the proposed three-month amnesty between October 2018 and January 2019.

“With previous weapons amnesties some thousands of weapons have come in, but we have no experience of this kind (with grenades). This is the first time,” Justice Minister Morgan Johansson told DN.

“This is linked to criminal gangs who in general have increased access to weapons which they use against one another and against the judicial system. We must get these off our streets.”

According to DN there were 27 instances of grenades exploding in Sweden during 2016, compared to 10 in 2015. Swedish PM Stefan Löfven announced earlier this year that he wants the minimum penalty for carrying a hand grenade in the country to be quadrupled.

READ ALSO: Penalty for carrying grenades should be quadrupled, Swedish PM says

The proposal for an amnesty will be brought to the Riksdag in February.

CRIME

Stockholm court fines Greta Thunberg over parliament climate protest

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was handed a fine for disobeying police orders after blocking access to Sweden's parliament during a protest.

Published: 8 May 2024 17:00 CEST
Stockholm court fines Greta Thunberg over parliament climate protest

Police removed Thunberg on March 12th and 14th after she refused to leave the main entrance, where she was protesting with a small group of activists for several days. MPs could still access the building via secondary entrances.

The court said it fined the activist 6,000 Swedish kronor ($551) and ordered her to pay 1,000 kronor in damages and interest.

Thunberg denied the charges of two counts of civil disobedience, according to an AFP journalist at the hearing.

Asked by the judge why she had not obeyed police orders, she replied: “Because there was a (climate) emergency and there still is. And in an emergency, we all have a duty to act.”

“The current laws protect the extractive industries instead of protecting people and the planet, which is what I believe should be the case,” she said as she left the courtroom.

Thunberg has been fined twice before in Sweden, in July and October 2023, for civil disobedience during similar protests.

In February, a London judge dropped charges against her for disturbing the peace during a demonstration against the oil industry in October in the British capital.

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