People gather to pay their respects at an improvised memorial where a father was shot dead in front of his son during a confrontation with a youth gang near Stockholm, April 11, 2024. CLAUDIO BRESCIANI/AFP
Eight prison facilities are currently being adapted in Sweden. Starting July 1, they will initially house around one hundred 15- to 17-year-olds convicted of serious crimes.
Until now, these minors had been cared for by social services and generally placed in dedicated secure centers. But the coalition government in power since October 2022 – composed of conservatives, Christian Democrats, liberals and the far right – has decided to take a tougher stance, hoping to stem the wave of violence shaking the country and increasingly involving younger minors.
On Monday, January 26, the government announced it is prepared to go even further, revealing its intention to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 (down from 15) starting on July 1 for a period of five years. The measure has been highly contested in the Nordic country, where most government agencies that were consulted issued negative opinions.
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