Malmö murders linked to fake online firms: report

Fake online firms for money laundering probably, which is the usual way for organized criminals to 'legitimize' money they have acquired through drug sales, so that the gang leader can then buy himself a nice car from the apparently legally acquired proceeds of his fake online business.

This points to rather sophisticated criminal operations in Malmö, in addition to the 11 year olds who stab women in the hand with a knife, or other scum who angrily shove over baby carriages after robbery at knife point.

I wish the police good luck, and hope that the results of their efforts will not be a slap in their face after they see that the criminals will only get a slap on the wrist, in the form of trivial sentences and 10,000 SEK fines.

"Malmö police recently admitted that they are "embarrassed and irritated" that crime has continued to rise despite a significant increase in police presence."

whats new then

Yes, trivial sentencing is part of the problem. To make any impression at all sentencing needs to be taken much more seriously by the Swedish judiciary. It needs to be multi layered including a no nonsense approach to deportation for criminal activity by immigrants.

If you're suggesting we use the American criminal justice model, long sentences in midieval prisons, just look at Detroit or Newark or Camden, New Jersey to see how well that's worked. Do we want one of those here? I don't think so.

@ NachoMan

It is possible to go too far 'right wing' with ones prison system, but it is also possible to go too far left. Recent examples include a 21 year old getting 4 years (6 maximum) in prison for 'murder, bordering on torture' of a videotaped killing that he perpetrated with a few friends of a school teacher in his (the school teacher's) own home, and a man over 35 years old who got 2 years in prision (3 max) for kicking his mother in law to death. And both got trivial fines as well.

One of the duties of a society is to create at least some disincentive to commit serious crimes that ruin or end the lives of others. For criminals who are so pathological that they do not respond to legal disincentives, then at least they are taken off the street for awhile if the sentences have a more reasonble duration. There is a huge emphasis on the rights of murderers here in Sweden, with little or no attention given to the families of the victims, who can expect something as little as 50,000 SEK in compensation for the death of a parent.

The problem extends to smaller crimes as well, where gang members get reduced penalties for possession of illegal firearms, because they tell the judge that they need the guns for their work, and even for the most minor crimes, the concept of community service is unheard of. Except with regard to penalties for tax crimes, Sweden has gone too far left.

@ Reason and Realism

Very sensible. The point is that extremes never work. People have a tendency to immediately jump to the exact opposite when something doesn't work out. This behaviour almost never improves anything, sometimes even makes things worse.

mmmm If that is the case somebody is doing a favour to the society killing that trash, Society will be better if all them are exterminated.

@ Karex

I agree that angry people will call for the opposite, but we appear to be at the left extreme at the moment, so a move toward the center might add at least some disincentive against violent crime, and might enable the police to better fight crime. The crimes that I described in #5 would probably have led to 10 to 25 year sentences in England for example.

In Göteborg a woman who was told she would get a death sentence by her brother for an 'honour related' situation recently withdrew her accusation, to the astonishment of the prosecutor, but this was not surprising when it was reported that the brother would have only faced a few months in jail for a death threat conviction.

People say that a long sentence for murder will not bring the victim back, but in fact it does bring the victim back (virtually speaking) if the victim is not killed to begin with. A 20 year old criminal may decide NOT to kill me if he knows that he will get 25 years for it in London, but may decide to go ahead with it if he only faces 4 years if he murders me in Sweden.

The police recently requested permission to conduct wiretaps to help them track down illegal weapons in Malmö, and this was denied. Why, I ask? Even if the wiretaps reveal that the Mayor is having an affair with his secretary, or that I am, the police will not report this, and the police will be far better equipped to fight serious crime.

I remain convinced that Sweden has gone too far left.

@ NachoMan

Yes, because leaving all the violent criminals on the street would make the situation so much better in those places.

Perhaps the problem is actually and CRIME and the CRIMINALS and not the people forced to respond to it.

But of course what we need is just more empathy from the victims towards their perpetrators... because it's clear that violent sociopaths just need more understanding they will stop committing crime.