Annika Östberg 'not ready' for life out of prison: prosecutor

Annika Östberg, who was recently transferred from the United States to Sweden to serve out a lifetime prison sentence, isn’t yet ready to re-enter society, according to prosecutors.

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Chief prosecutor Gunnar Brodin believes Östberg, who was convicted in California in 1981 for being an accessory to two murders, including a police officer, will need a long time to adjust to life outside of prison.

As a result, he thinks it’s still too early to change her life sentence, the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper reports.

On Monday, Östberg is to appear before the district court in Örebro in central Sweden to make her case for having her sentence reduced.

Brodin believes Östberg “hasn’t in any way faced a drug free life of freedom and the challenges that come with it,” according to DN.

At the time of the two murders for which she was convicted for serving as an accomplice, Östberg was abusing both drugs and alcohol.

Sweden's Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalvården) has already given approval to having Östberg’s sentence reduced and sees no reason to deny her an early release.

The National Board of Forensic Medicine (Rättsmedicinalverket), however, believes there is a medium-high risk that Östberg would relapse into a life of crime, an assessment which could complicate her bid to convince the court to approve her request.

According to the medical agency, Östberg would need a long transitional period before she could be set free.