Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.
Ten thousand to-be-deported immigrants went missing last year
A total of 10,124 people who disappeared after being handed a deportation order last year are wanted by the police, according to Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT. They are wanted so that the deportation order can be executed, not because they are suspected of other crimes.
The figure has remained fairly steady, but fallen slightly, in the past five years, from 12,235 in 2017. But it is not known whether all remain in Sweden or have left the country.
“I don’t think anyone would choose to live undocumented if they felt that there was a better alternative. The situation they came from and chose to leave is still the same and then they sometimes make a different assessment than Swedish authorities,” a Red Cross migration expert told SVT.
Swedish vocabulary: wanted – efterlyst
‘Knutby pastor’ released on parole after 18 years
A pastor who was sentenced to life in prison for manipulating his family’s former nanny into murdering his wife, in one of the most well-known court cases in Sweden, has been released on parole after converting his life punishment into a fixed-term sentence.
“After serving 18 years (…) he is now entering life as a free man,” his lawyer told the Expressen tabloid.
His wife was murdered in their home in Knutby, about 75 kilometres north-east of Stockholm, in 2004, and a neighbour was shot but survived. The pastor was found guilty of instigating the murder and murder attempt, but the nanny was convicted of carrying out the attacks. She was sentenced to psychiatric care, but was released in 2011.
Swedish vocabulary: on parole – villkorligt frigiven
When will you next get to see the Northern Lights?
The dazzling display of the Northern Lights – or the Aurora Borealis – which could be seen in nearly all of Sweden the weekend before last was not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, at least not according to experts who say there’s more to come.
There’s a good chance to see the Northern Lights again in the coming years, thanks to the solar cycle entering into an intense phase which is expected to peak in 2025, according to the Aurora Borealis experts speaking with Swedish news agency TT.
Here’s The Local’s guide to how to keep up to date with the Northern Lights.
Swedish vocabulary: Northern Lights – norrsken
More than 10,000 join Swedish vaccine pass protests
Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Sweden's two biggest cities on Saturday against the use of vaccine passes, in marches that unfolded calmly after police had warned of possible clashes.
Around 9,000 people marched through the streets of the capital Stockholm to the Sergels Torg square chanting “No to Vaccine Passes, Yes to Freedom”, in a protest organised by a group calling itself the Freedom Movement.
Some of the demonstrators wore the markings of violent extremist groups such as the neo-Nazi group NMR, and covered their faces to prevent identification. Some also set off red flares that lit the sky a smoky red, but police said no clashes were reported. A number of vaccination centres in the city had closed early on Saturday as a precaution.
In Sweden’s second-biggest city Gothenburg, another demonstration gathered around 1,500 people.
Swedish vocabulary: a precaution – en försiktighetsåtgärd
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Ten thousand to-be-deported immigrants went missing last year
A total of 10,124 people who disappeared after being handed a deportation order last year are wanted by the police, according to Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT. They are wanted so that the deportation order can be executed, not because they are suspected of other crimes.
The figure has remained fairly steady, but fallen slightly, in the past five years, from 12,235 in 2017. But it is not known whether all remain in Sweden or have left the country.
“I don’t think anyone would choose to live undocumented if they felt that there was a better alternative. The situation they came from and chose to leave is still the same and then they sometimes make a different assessment than Swedish authorities,” a Red Cross migration expert told SVT.
Swedish vocabulary: wanted – efterlyst
‘Knutby pastor’ released on parole after 18 years
A pastor who was sentenced to life in prison for manipulating his family’s former nanny into murdering his wife, in one of the most well-known court cases in Sweden, has been released on parole after converting his life punishment into a fixed-term sentence.
“After serving 18 years (…) he is now entering life as a free man,” his lawyer told the Expressen tabloid.
His wife was murdered in their home in Knutby, about 75 kilometres north-east of Stockholm, in 2004, and a neighbour was shot but survived. The pastor was found guilty of instigating the murder and murder attempt, but the nanny was convicted of carrying out the attacks. She was sentenced to psychiatric care, but was released in 2011.
Swedish vocabulary: on parole – villkorligt frigiven
When will you next get to see the Northern Lights?
The dazzling display of the Northern Lights – or the Aurora Borealis – which could be seen in nearly all of Sweden the weekend before last was not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, at least not according to experts who say there’s more to come.
There’s a good chance to see the Northern Lights again in the coming years, thanks to the solar cycle entering into an intense phase which is expected to peak in 2025, according to the Aurora Borealis experts speaking with Swedish news agency TT.
Here’s The Local’s guide to how to keep up to date with the Northern Lights.
Swedish vocabulary: Northern Lights – norrsken
More than 10,000 join Swedish vaccine pass protests
Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Sweden's two biggest cities on Saturday against the use of vaccine passes, in marches that unfolded calmly after police had warned of possible clashes.
Around 9,000 people marched through the streets of the capital Stockholm to the Sergels Torg square chanting “No to Vaccine Passes, Yes to Freedom”, in a protest organised by a group calling itself the Freedom Movement.
Some of the demonstrators wore the markings of violent extremist groups such as the neo-Nazi group NMR, and covered their faces to prevent identification. Some also set off red flares that lit the sky a smoky red, but police said no clashes were reported. A number of vaccination centres in the city had closed early on Saturday as a precaution.
In Sweden’s second-biggest city Gothenburg, another demonstration gathered around 1,500 people.
Swedish vocabulary: a precaution – en försiktighetsåtgärd
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