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CRIME

Violent crime: Swedish police outline plan to deal with ‘exceptional situation’

Police have announced a 'special national incident' to look into violent crime in Sweden, with the head of the task force saying he expects a tangible impact within the next six months.

Published: 11 November 2019 17:24 CET
Violent crime: Swedish police outline plan to deal with 'exceptional situation'
Police technicians working at the scene of the shooting on Sunday. Photo: Johan Nilsson / TT

Operation Hoarfrost, as the operation has been named, has been launched in order to reduce the number of explosions and shootings in Sweden and to increase the feeling of public safety.

The head of national police operations department Noa, Mats Löfving, took the decision on Sunday evening and said that the shooting of two teenagers the day before was “the final straw”.

“It is very rare that we use these special methods. There has to be an exceptional situation,” said Löfving.

No arrests have yet been made in connection with the shooting, which left one 15-year-old dead and another in hospital in a serious condition.

The special national incident relates to violent crime in general and is not limited to any geographical area or specific incident. But Löfving said the shooting on Sunday was “the straw that broke the camel's back”.

“We saw a weekend in Malmö that is unacceptable, with an execution-like murder of a 15-year-old boy,” he told the press conference.

The special national incident means that a dedicated task force will look into violent crime, with the task force's commander-in-chief granted special powers to make decisions and allocate resources.

Four specific goals were outlined at the press conference: to reduce the number of explosions and shootings significantly, to reduce the number of people in criminal gangs through carrying out arrests and convictions, to seize weapons and explosives, and to increase the feeling of safety among members of the public.

Stefan Hector, who will take on the role of commander-in-chief, said he expected that the special incident would have an impact “within six months”.

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said he welcomed the measure, telling the TT news agency: “It is an important signal. Malmö residents should not feel that they are alone in this, but rather that this is a matter for the whole of Sweden.”

While Sweden's overall crime rate and homicide rate remains low from an international and historical perspective, there has been an increase in recent years in the proportion of murders linked to criminal gangs. And the number of explosions has increased, accounting for 162 of a total of 190 incidents of 'destruction causing public endangerment' last year.

The briefing explaining the special national incident followed an earlier press conference from Malmö police in which they outlined the measures underway in the city.

Malmö's police chief said at that conference that both the victims of Sunday's shooting were previously known to police, and that an important step in crime prevention would be cracking down on the local drugs trade.

The role of the drugs trade in violent crime was a concern echoed by the prime minister, who told TT: “It is important that we as a society think about how we act, since organized crime survives to a large extent due to drug trafficking”.

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CRIME

Sweden calls Iranian diplomat to meeting over gang crime allegations

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström has called Iran's Chargé d'Affaires to a meeting after reports that Iran recruited gang leader Rawa Majid to carry out attacks in Sweden and other countries.

Published: 31 May 2024 11:27 CEST
Sweden calls Iranian diplomat to meeting over gang crime allegations

“I will of course inform our partners, not least in the EU. As everyone knows we have an ongoing discussion about Iran in the EU,” Billström told Swedish news agency TT in a statement.

“What we’re now seeing is a link between criminal networks and state actors. It’s deeply concerning that a foreign power, in this case Iran, is said to have used criminal networks to commit or conspire to commit crimes in Sweden.”

Billström told Swedish and Finnish journalists in Prague that he would be discussing it with EU colleagues at a Nato meeting in the Czech capital.

“A number of our Nato colleagues are also EU colleagues, so naturally there will be some discussion about this,” he said.

His comments came after Swedish security service Säpo confirmed reports from their Israeli counterparts, Mossad, that Säpo had established that the Iranian regime had recruited criminal gangs in Sweden to attack other states, including on Swedish soil.

“The security-threatening activities of the Iranian regime and its security services have also targeted representatives of other states, including Israel, that Iran regards as enemies of its regime. Such activities could be carried out with a view to harming Israeli and Jewish interests, targets, and activities in Sweden,” said Säpo, adding that it had already thwarted several Iranian activities in Sweden.

Although Säpo did not comment on any specific incidents, it was widely reported that Majid’s contacts were behind a hand grenade attack on the Israeli embassy in Stockholm in January, allegedly acting on the orders of the Iranian regime.

Rivalry between Majid’s Foxtrot gang and a breakout group led to a series of deadly shootings and explosions in Sweden. He is said to have been given the choice between prison and cooperation when he was arrested in Iran.

“We know what kind of state Iran is. We have no illusions about the ambitions of Iranian leadership,” Billström was quoted by TT as saying.

“We have also, as has been revealed earlier, seen activities directed at Swedish citizens, for example attempts to use agents to plan assassination attempts against Swedish citizens of Jewish descent, which were revealed a few months ago,” he added.

“So we’re fully aware of what’s going on here.”

Billström did not rule out the possibility of further sanctions against Iran.

“I’m not ruling anything out at this point. The most important thing is that we have a discussion about how serious this threat is.”

He did not wish to comment on how Iran’s actions in Sweden should be defined, but he did say that states have “no right” to act against Swedish interests on Swedish soil.

“State actors have no right to do this. If they do, firstly the acts committed by these gangs are criminal, and secondly it’s a question of relations between us and the state, in this case Iran.”

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