Few successes for sex crimes centre
The national centre for investigating sexual crimes once the cases have been dropped has resulted in only three men being charged for sexual assault in 2005, according to Dagens Nyheter.
In January 2005 the Swedish Public Prosecutions Authority opened the new centre in Gothenburg. At the time, the head of the operation, Chief Prosecutor Birgit Thunved, said that investigations of sexual crimes are often dropped or not carried out thoroughly, and that very few reported incidents actually lead to a prosecution.
Throughout the year, 124 cases have been referred to the centre, requesting that investigations be reopened. In most cases the victim was unhappy that the matter had been closed or was dissatisfied with the sentence.
Of these, the centre decided to take up a total of 18 cases and three have progressed to the prosecution stage.
In five cases the investigation was restarted and then reclosed. One example was the case of three players in the Swedish ice hockey team who were accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room in February. Despite further interviews by investigators, no evidence of any crime was found.
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In January 2005 the Swedish Public Prosecutions Authority opened the new centre in Gothenburg. At the time, the head of the operation, Chief Prosecutor Birgit Thunved, said that investigations of sexual crimes are often dropped or not carried out thoroughly, and that very few reported incidents actually lead to a prosecution.
Throughout the year, 124 cases have been referred to the centre, requesting that investigations be reopened. In most cases the victim was unhappy that the matter had been closed or was dissatisfied with the sentence.
Of these, the centre decided to take up a total of 18 cases and three have progressed to the prosecution stage.
In five cases the investigation was restarted and then reclosed. One example was the case of three players in the Swedish ice hockey team who were accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room in February. Despite further interviews by investigators, no evidence of any crime was found.
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