Ground-breaking verdict: Criminal is deported – even though he came to Sweden as a one-year-old

Published 4 April 2024 at 18.07

Domestic. A 36-year-old criminal immigrant came to Sweden when he was one year old. Despite that, he is now sentenced to deportation in a unique judgment from the Court of Appeal.

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Following a change in the law from the previous government that came into force on August 1, 2022 has it become possible to deport criminals who came to Sweden before they turned 15. This was previously prohibited.

The current case, which Smålandsposten was the first to report on, concerns a 36-year-old criminal man in Växjö . He immigrated with his parents to Sweden from Chile as a one-year-old and has previously been convicted of, among other things, aggravated weapons offenses and aggravated unlawful threats.

He was recently convicted of new similar felonies, plus assault in court and assault. Among other things, he threatened young people with a gun who drove an A-tractor through his car window. He also threatened to shoot another man with a sharp-loaded pistol at a pizzeria in Tingsryd.

The prosecutor had, with reference to the change in the law, demanded that he be deported. However, this claim was rejected by the district court, which considered it disproportionate considering that the man lived almost his entire life in Sweden.

The Göta Court of Appeal, on the other hand, makes a different assessment and sentences the 36-year-old to four years in prison – as well as deportation to his native Chile with a ban on returning to Sweden for ten years.

One of the jurors disagreed – and wanted to deport the man on lifetime.

“Also taking into account the fact that during at least the last five years he can be considered to have lived outside regular society to a special extent, [the 36-year-old] now has a weakened actual establishment in society “, writes the Göta Court of Appeal in the judgment.

The Court of Appeal points out that the purpose of the change in the law was to make it possible to deport foreign citizens who commit crimes more often and emphasizes that “this purpose should be respected when applying the law”. The court also refers to a case where the European Court approved the deportation of a robber from Denmark who came to the country as a youth.

It is also stated in the judgment that the Chilean started his criminal career early and that he has “criminal values”.

The man has stated that all relatives he has close contact with live in Sweden.