from Hacker News

A new law in Sweden lets police seize unexplained luxury goods

by pingou on 12/10/24, 7:51 PM with 139 comments

  • by andersco on 12/10/24, 7:57 PM

  • by rurp on 12/10/24, 8:33 PM

    I'm not a fan of this law and expect it will end up being abused as much as civil forfeiture in the US. That said, it is interesting to see a stop and frisk law that actually targets wealthy people for once.

  • by tommiegannert on 12/10/24, 10:42 PM

    What in the actual F is going on. I sincerely hope my cursory reading of the law was wrong. This law[1] seems pretty much to be a presumed-guilty-until-you've-proven-yourself-innocent thing.

    Seems they've entered some kind of reverse Minority Report middle ground, where they don't have to prove you committed a crime. If there is reasonable suspicion that a crime was committed for you to own that Rolex, it's gone. Possibly that means "you couldn't prove it was acquired legally."

    There goes any chance of me returning to Sweden, I guess. This is going downhill fast.

    [1] (Swedish) https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/sven...

  • by rdtsc on 12/10/24, 8:42 PM

    > The Oresund bridge between Denmark and Sweden, which opened in 2000, made illegal firearms and drugs easier to transfer.

    > Ten years ago Sweden, with 10m people, had one of the lowest rates of gun violence and murder in Europe. It now has one of the highest

    Is Denmark known for illegal firearms and drugs export? The way it's written it's almost blaming Denmark for its issues. And besides, wasn't that 20 years ago. Surely the illegal firearms and crime would have flooded right in, starting in 2000 until 2010. What happened 10 years ago that started this crime wave?

    > law came into force allowing them to detain people flaunting ostentatious luxury goods

    There is also no way this law won't be abused. Everyone is looking at US cops robbing people in plain daylight of cash and are horrified. Except, other countries' government officials which are getting very excited by such prospects, it seems: "We too, can rob people!"

  • by monkeycantype on 12/10/24, 9:08 PM

    In Australia, and I expect most western countries, it’s pointless discussing immigration without acknowledging it is being used as a lever by business to suppress wages and working conditions in the destination country, and that to do so immigrants are arriving under legal conditions that limit their ability to negotiate fair treatment and mean they live without political representation.

    The deteriorating social conditions observed are not a consequence of there being more foreigners, but of deliberate policy decisions to make it more difficult for immigrants in some visa categories to prosper and fully participate in society, a deliberate decision to extract max value from people for minimum reward

  • by Dig1t on 12/10/24, 8:58 PM

    >The impulse behind it is a sense of helplessness over a long-term rise in violent crime. Ten years ago Sweden, with 10m people, had one of the lowest rates of gun violence and murder in Europe. It now has one of the highest, averaging a shooting a day. In 2022, 62 people were shot dead; last year it was 53.

    Sweden has super strict gun control laws. This is a pretty good case for the argument that the low levels of gun violence that Europe used to enjoy were more due to cultural values instead of strict laws.

  • by ajsnigrutin on 12/10/24, 8:17 PM

    So, as in america, again, you're guilty until you prove you're innocent, by either wasting a lot of money on legal costs, or alternatively, letting them steal whatever they took from you...

    sad.

  • by miohtama on 12/10/24, 8:24 PM

    "There is no consensus on the main cause of this surge in violence"

    If I am not misunderstood, the consensus in Sweden and globally is that the situation is caused by lax immigration policies and taking in too many immigrants who have not been able to integrate to the society.

  • by bookofjoe on 12/10/24, 9:00 PM

  • by andrewstuart on 12/10/24, 8:20 PM

    Proceeds of crime law is fine if it is decided in a court with judicial oversight and legal representation.

  • by danielfoster on 12/10/24, 8:40 PM

    It sounds like this law will be used to target drug gangs and organized crime. Regardless, I don’t see how it can be applied without discriminating against minorities. I highly doubt the woman at the airport, who the article states was stopped for having expensive jewelry, was white and Swedish.

    If the police stopped you on the street and asked how you were able to afford a MacBook or XYZ, would you be able to “prove” it?

    This law is extremely asinine.

  • by jaco6 on 12/10/24, 8:48 PM

    It would be easier to simply deport immigrants, most of whom are committing fraud by claiming asylum under false pretenses.