Sweden: Bigger prisons for more prisoners

The Prison and Probation Service expects a 20% raise of inmates in Sweden in the next decade. (Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images)
The Prison and Probation Service wants to expand its prisons, in order to prevent security issues and other problems that could arise in the future.

Based on trends that the Service has noticed both in Sweden and abroad, along with tougher punishments and a growing population, the Service says it believes it will need to be able to accommodate more inmates in the next eight to ten years.

Today, prisons can accommodate 4,200 inmates, but the Service is expecting that that number will increase by almost 20 percent, to 5,000.

Director-General of the Prison and Probation Service, Nils Öberg, talked to Radio Sweden more about why they are drawing up plans to expand, and about what can go wrong if the prisons become overcrowded.

Related stories from around the North:

Canada: Inquiry into violence against Indigenous women hears first day of testimony in Canadian Arctic, Eye on the Arctic

Denmark: Nordics report high abuse levels against women, Radio Sweden

Sweden:  Reports of violent crime increasing in Sweden’s North, Radio Sweden

United States: Survey finds violence against women widespread in Western Alaska region, Alaska Dispatch News

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