According to a new report from the Swedish government, the country needs to crack down on crime by handing out harsher punishments for violent crimes and expanding sanctions on cases of blackmail and abuse. The findings came from an investigative commission on sentencing levels headed by prosecutor Anders Perklev.
Swedish justice minister Beatrice Ask, who received the commission’s report, was satisfied with the results according to The Local newspaper. She sees the recommendations as falling in line with the government’s campaign promises to get tough on crime, something that is important for preserving public confidence in Sweden’s justice system.
“I think the suggestions are very much in line with the Alliance government’s ambitions and the directives we gave to the investigator,” said Ask. “It’s important that the sanctions handed down by the courts are proportional to the severity of the crime and there, the investigator states, we undervalue to some extent violent crime and the serious effects it has for people and society.”
The commission reviewed sentencing procedures in the UK, France, Germany, and the other Nordic nations to put together its proposal. But others on the commission wish that a wider overhaul of the justice system would be implemented instead of just harsher penalties.