Sweden plans to rent prison cells abroad as inmates soar

STOCKHOLM: The Swedish government said on Wednesday that it was examining the possibility of sending some inmates to serve their sentences in prisons abroad, anticipating heavy pressure on its own prisons in the coming years.

Sweden has struggled in recent years to rein in shootings and bombings linked to score-settling between rival criminal gangs.

Perpetrators are often young teens who are hired as contract killers because they are under 15, the age of criminal responsibility in Sweden.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson´s centre-right minority government, which is backed in parliament by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, came to power in 2022 with a vow to get tough on crime.

“One concrete consequence of this change is that more people will be incarcerated and for longer periods, which will lead to increased pressure on the Swedish prison system,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told a press conference on Tuesday.

Strommer spoke as he received a government on the feasibility of prisoners serving time abroad.

“Our recommendation is that this should be done within the EU or within the Schengen area,” said Mattias Wahlstedt, who headed the probe, without giving any specific examples.