Sweden Did Not Close Its Prisons
The Claim
Sweden closed four of its prisons because of the lack of crime. As for the rest of the prisons, they have hotel-like luxury.
News posted on
Emerging story
A claim that Sweden has closed its main prisons due to the lack of crime and that the "remaining prisons" are in luxury hotels has been making the rounds on social media.
According to the claim circulated by several Arab news sites, Sweden's prison administration has decided to close four prisons, and the head of the Swedish prison department stated that they decided to close the prisons because they do not need them anymore.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar found that Swedish Interior and Justice Minister Morgan Johansson said in July 2018 that his country's prisons were overcrowded, especially with the high crime rate in recent years.
Johansson predicted that more offenders would be detained because of new legal regulations in the fight against crime and terrorism. The Swedish government promised that it would meet some of the prison service's demands for 250 new cells, while the department had demanded 800 cells.
As for the widespread images accompanying the news as Sweden's luxury prisons, Misbar found that they belong to the Langholmen Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden.
