In a drastic measure to come to terms with the ‘child soldiers’ of Sweden, the government on Wednesday proposed allowing warrantless wiretapping and secret means of coercion against minors—children under the age of 15—something that is currently prohibited. Privacy concerns appear to be taking a back seat in the uneven fight against gang crime in the country.
The government’s own investigator recommended restricting warrantless wiretapping to the Security Services Säpo, but the government and Sweden Democrats argue that regular police should also have this power in gang-related cases like murder, large-scale public destruction, and serious weapons offenses.
“It is a far-reaching proposal. But it is motivated by societal developments,” Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer said in a press conference. “It’s about preventing crime, but also about reaching those who are behind it and controlling it via the children’s mobile phones.”
Criminal immigrant gangs in Sweden recruit minors for criminal activity—including murders—because even if convicted, their sentences are light and limited in time. In the past year, youth from Sweden have carried out violent crimes in neighboring Norway and Denmark.
Police in Uppsala, Sweden, currently have a 16-year-old in custody suspected of being the murderer of three young people in a barber shop on Wednesday. That shooting is also believed to have ties to gang activity.
