Swedish Prison Service chief summoned to parliamentary committee over overcrowding concerns

General Director Rikard Jermsten of the Swedish Prison Service is scheduled to appear before a parliamentary committee next Thursday after the agency warned that the demand for additional prison capacity has risen sharply following the Tidö government's tougher sentencing measures. The Prison Service reiterates that a shortage of tens of thousands of places persists, a situation comparable to the overcrowding that has forced early releases in the United Kingdom.

Carvalho highlights that recent parliamentary decisions to eliminate indefinite reforms, such as the multiple-offence discount and the two-thirds early-release provision, could lead to severe consequences if enacted simultaneously. She urges a step-by-step approach, calling for new legislation to address each change. The justice minister Gunnar Strömmer is also set to be questioned, and further inquiries will cover the placement of Swedish inmates in Estonia's Tartu prison and the housing of transgender men in women’s facilities.