The Dhaka Times Desk Is such a thing ever heard? I don't think so. Such incidents have occurred in Swedish prisons. There are no prisoners in their prisons. That is, the number of criminals has decreased.
If such an incident happened in our country. Then we could live in peace. There was no hatred. There would be no theft and robbery, murder and vandalism. No one should have been burned alive in a car. No child should have lost their life prematurely. No bride was burnt to death.
But every prison in our country is beyond capacity. One reason is that the number of criminals is increasing day by day. There is no such day that news of murder, torture, theft, robbery is not found in the pages of newspapers.
The number of prisoners in Sweden's prisons has been declining for several years. But in recent times this number has suddenly decreased significantly. In this situation, the government does not think it is necessary to keep additional prisons. Authorities have already closed several prisons.
Hans von Hofer, professor of criminology at Stockholm University, said that the government's policy of lenient sentences for first-time crimes such as theft, drug use or violence may be a major reason for the reduction in prison incarceration. Between 2004 and 2012, 36 percent of the prison population in Sweden fell for theft-related crimes, 25 percent for drug-related crimes, and 12 percent for violent crimes. According to the government, in 2004 the number of prisoners in Sweden was the highest at 5,722. In 2012 it decreased to 4 thousand 852 people.
Jail authorities said that they are closing 4 jails this year. Prison chief Nils Oberg said, 'We can see that the number of prisoners has decreased naturally. Now we have an opportunity to partially close the prison. We don't need them now.'
Prison chief Oberg also said the number of prisons in Sweden had been decreasing by about 1 percent every year since 2004. Between 2011 and 2012, the rate of decline increased to 6 percent. They believe that this trend will continue in the current year and the coming years as well.
"We definitely think the measures we've taken to rehabilitate inmates and prevent them from re-offending have had an impact," Oberg said. Obard also said that keeping in mind the possibility of increasing the number of prisoners in the future, they have kept two prisons. These will be reintroduced if necessary.
Sweden's liberal prison system and special attention to rehabilitation of prisoners have played a part, if not a significant, role in reducing the number of prisoners. Sweden's Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that the drug-related offense should be less severe. Source: The Guardian.
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