She is keen to ensure that everyone understands and emphasizes that the Prison and Probation Service has used the tools provided by the law.
We cannot detain anyone in prison due to the risk of reoffending.
I sympathize with the victim. It is very regrettable, she says at the same time about the new report against the man.
Two legal reasons
The main rule is that convicted persons shall be conditionally released when two-thirds of the sentence has been served.
There are only two legal reasons to postpone conditional release: serious and extensive misconduct during the prison term, or that the convicted person has not participated in crime prevention measures.
During his time in prison, the so-called Nytorgsman was reported to the police for having threatened to kill an employee. To an outsider, this may seem like very serious misconduct – but not even this can lead to postponed conditional release.
No, because then there is a risk of double punishment, says Lisa Gezelius.
If the police report for threats had led to prosecution and a new prison sentence, and the conditional release had also been postponed, it would have meant two punishments for the same crime.
The Prison and Probation Service handles misconduct, the police handle new crimes.
Lack of motivation
In the Prison and Probation Service's decision on Nytorgsman, it is stated that he completed a treatment program prematurely due to behavior showing a lack of motivation. Shouldn't this have affected the conditional release?
According to Lisa Gezelius, the man still completed the basic program and the decision on supervision included that he would participate in a follow-up program.
We do not comment on individual cases, but I want to emphasize that we postpone conditional release if someone has discontinued a program, she says.
"Ongoing misconduct"
To prevent new crimes during the conditional release, the man was given an electronic ankle tag and was forbidden to be outdoors during evenings and nights.
On Tuesday evening, the same evening he was arrested by the police, the signals from the ankle tag ceased and he could no longer be contacted by phone.
Then the Prison and Probation Service decided that he would be temporarily taken into custody, with immediate effect – but by then he was already arrested. In the decision, the Prison and Probation Service states that "the client has had ongoing misconduct throughout the entire supervision period".
The man was charged with 24 rapes, one of which was considered aggravated.
In November 2021, the man was sentenced by Södertörn District Court to five years in prison for seven rapes: three cases of what is called normal-grade rape, two less serious rapes, and two cases of the new crime of negligent rape. He was also sentenced for eight sexual assaults, six sexual harassments, one gross violation of a woman's integrity, and other crimes.
The man was also sentenced to pay damages totaling over 1.1 million kronor.
The man was acquitted in the district court of eight rapes against five different plaintiffs. One of these concerned the rape that the prosecutor considered aggravated.
The Svea Court of Appeal upheld the district court's verdict in its entirety in February 2022.
