Sweden must take action against gangs

In the biggest Swedish trial since the investigation into the assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986, several members of the so-called Södertälje network have been condemned to long prison sentences. The gang kept the city of Södertälje, not far from Stockholm, in a state of terror for years with a spate of murders, kidnappings and blackmailing. The liberal daily Dagens Nyheter calls for consistent action against such groups by police and judiciary: "Police officers in Södertälje reported several cases of operations being suspended and inconsistent management. If resolute action [as in recent years] had been taken at an earlier point the parallel societies in Södertälje would never have developed in the first place. Now we will see what conclusions are drawn in Malmö und Gothenburg. There, too, are areas where the distribution of power between the state and gangs remains unregulated [and which are ruled by the gangs]. ... Södertälje teaches us a clear lesson: the constitutional state must never yield - not even by a millimetre."

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