SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Police accused of breaking woman’s arm

A policeman from Stockholm is being prosecuted for having unlawfully detaining a woman and assaulting her, in particular breaking her arm.

Police accused of breaking woman's arm
Photo: Pontus Lundahl/Scanpix (file)

The incident occurred when the officer spotted the 19-year-old woman handing over her transportation card to her boyfriend in Stockholm’s T-Centralen metro station.

The officer took the woman into custody in December at T-Central and took her to one of SL’s, the local public transportation authority, premises sometimes used to hold suspects.

Inside, he pushed her down on a chair, kicked her in the leg and pulled her hair, which, according to the indictment, resulted in pain. He then pushed the woman down onto the floor and twisted her left arm behind her back, breaking her arm.

The officer said took the woman into custody because she tried to hand over her transportation card to her boyfriend so that they could both travel on the same card. He claimed that the woman fell and struck her arm on a chair or floor while he and another officer were holding her in a loose grip.

The policeman is accused of unlawful detention, assault and causing bodily injury or misconduct. He will also be prosecuted for several cases of illegal misuse of computer information after he read complaints against police officers without authorisation.

The majority were against him, including the notification submitted by the woman.

Chief prosecutor Christer Ekelund wrote the summons application that the intervention against the woman was without basis in the law because she did not disturb public order. The violence the policeman used was unjustifiable, the indictment said.

The evidence includes footage from a surveillance camera, the testimonies of the woman’s companions and a court affidavit attesting the origin of the injury.

The National Police Board’s (Rikspolisstyrelsen) disciplinary board will provide its opinion on the matter to determine whether the policeman should be dismissed on a possible conviction verdict.

The woman’s assistant prosecuting lawyer, Ann-Charlotte Westlund, would not comment on the case until after the trial, which will take place sometime in the autumn.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

CRIME

Nordic justice ministers meet tech giants on gangs using apps to hire ‘child soldiers’

The justice ministers of Denmark, Sweden and Norway are to meet representatives of the tech giants Google, Meta, Snapchat and TikTok, to discuss how to stop their platforms being used by gang criminals in the region.

Nordic justice ministers meet tech giants on gangs using apps to hire 'child soldiers'

Denmark’s justice minister, Peter Hummelgaard, said in a press release that he hoped to use the meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss how to stop social media and messaging apps being used by gang criminals, who Danish police revealed earlier this year were using them to recruit so-called “child soldiers” to carry out gang killings.  

“We have seen many examples of how the gangs are using social media and encrypted messaging services to plan serious crimes and recruit very young people to do their dirty work,” Hummelgaard said. “My Nordic colleagues and I agree that a common front is needed to get a grip on this problem.”

As well as recruitment, lists have been found spreading on social media detailing the payments on offer for various criminal services.   

Hummelgaard said he would “insist that the tech giants live up to their responsibilities so that their platforms do not act as hotbeds for serious crimes” at the meeting, which will take place at a summit of Nordic justice ministers in Uppsala, Sweden.

In August, Hummelgaard held a meeting in Copenhagen with Sweden’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, at which the two agreed to work harder to tackle cross-border organised crime, which has seen a series of Swedish youth arrested in Denmark after being recruited to carry out hits in the country. 

According to a press release from the Swedish justice ministry, the morning will be spent discussing how to combat the criminal economy and particularly organised crime in ports, with a press release from Finland’s justice ministry adding that the discussion would also touch on the “undue influence on judicial authorities” from organised crime groups. 

The day will end with a round table discussion with Ronald S Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, on how anti-Semitism and hate crimes against Jews can be prevented and fought in the Nordic region. 

SHOW COMMENTS