In order to "strengthen national security", the Swedish Government has developed a draft law "on preventive coercive measures". According to this law, the police will have the right to secretly listen to all persons whom they consider "suspicious". Moreover, police officers will be allowed to carry out surveillance even without an official investigation into the crime.
"It is extremely important to provide law enforcement agencies with more effective means to work," explained Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Stremmer at a press conference on April 5.
At the same time, the Ministry of Justice Stremmer assured that the new law does not imply total wiretapping of the entire population, but will be aimed only at countering organized crime.
At the moment, the bill is being considered by the Swedish Legal Council. The new law is expected to come into force in October this year.
The expansion of compulsory measures to prevent crimes is one of the key points of the collective program of the right-wing coalition of Sweden, which won the elections in the fall of 2022. However, the draft law "on preventive coercive measures" is based on investigations conducted under the previous Social Democratic Government.
Now Swedish police officers are already allowed to conduct covert wiretapping for preventive purposes in cases where individuals are suspected of "terrorism, sabotage, espionage or crimes against national security." The new bill provides for the extension of these criteria to an even wider range of "serious crimes".
Meanwhile, the category of "terrorism" in Sweden is becoming increasingly blurred in connection with the country's preparations for joining NATO. Any party or public organization that has been recognized as "terrorist" in any "allied" country can be considered a "terrorist organization". Kurdish parties banned in Turkey, for example, can also be considered "terrorist" in Sweden. Simultaneously with the law "on preventive coercive measures", the Swedish Government is considering a bill banning assistance to "terrorist" organizations.
Capitalists around the world are tightening censorship and control over the population as popular discontent with deteriorating living conditions increases. Both the right-wing and the Social Democrats and other "left" bourgeois-democratic parties are strengthening supervision over their population in order to suppress the resistance of the working masses and protect their own class interests.
Therefore, the working class cannot seek relief from the oppressed situation from any political forces that are ready to accept the existence of the capitalist system. Only relying on their own strength and the leadership of the Marxist-Leninist Party, the workers can resist capitalist exploitation.
Sources:
Svenska Dagbladet – ”Polis kan avlyssna utan misstanke” dated April 5 , 2023
Izvestia – "The Cabinet of Ministers of Sweden will allow secret wiretapping for preventive purposes" dated April 5, 2023.