Director General Rikard Jermsten has been summoned to the committee next Thursday.
The background is that the Swedish Prison and Probation Service recently sounded the alarm that the need for new prison places, due to the Tidö government’s tougher sentences, is significantly greater than was assessed last spring.
The Swedish Prison and Probation Service once again notes that there is a shortage of tens of thousands of prison places, says Carvalho.
This is happening at the same time as the UK is being forced to release prisoners because its prisons are overcrowded. This is the direction we are heading in if we don’t get this under control.
“Not worth anything”
Carvalho points out that the Riksdag (the Swedish parliament) has decided on far-reaching reforms, such as abolishing the sentence discount for multiple crimes and ending early release after serving two-thirds of a sentence, even for shorter prison terms. She interprets the Swedish Prison and Probation Service’s position as meaning that the consequences could be disastrous if everything is implemented at once.
If you have to take this piece by piece, you have to present new bills, says Carvalho.
This means that we have to start from scratch and that the new penalty system is worthless.
Abolishing the so-called quantity discount was one of the hot issues of the election campaign. The Moderates came down hard on the Social Democrats for not supporting tougher penalties.
Carvalho now wants to know what the dialogue between the government and the Swedish Prison and Probation Service has been like.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer (M) has also been summoned to the committee. He is due to appear on Tuesday.
Men in women’s institutions
Carvalho also wants the Swedish Prison and Probation Service to report on the progress of its plans to fill the prison in Tartu, Estonia, with Swedish prisoners.
Now we read about empty cells and empty chartered planes at enormous cost, says Carvalho.
A third question for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service concerns biological men who have changed their legal gender and been placed in women’s institutions.
Carvalho believes the situation goes against all common sense, but says it is too early to comment on whether the prison law needs to be changed.
