Suspected would-be hijacker sentenced in Sweden

Kerim Chatty, who was arrested at Stockholm's Vaesteraas airport in August when a loaded pistol was found in his carry-on bag, has just been sentenced to a laughably short 50 days in prison, to be served in addition to the 30 days he spent in jail during the investigation.

Leaving aside the question of whether a hijacking was intended, the sentence seems incredibly light for the gravity of the offense -- especially considering that Chatty was subsequently found to have another unlicensed firearm at home, and that he had had previous related convictions. Apparently he had been involved with the Yugoslav mafia, and in 1998 had been caught in central Stockholm with two pistols, one silenced, and a silenced machine gun (Swedish link). Amazingly, he was on the streets again no later than the following year, when he reassured police checking upon on him that he had turned away from crime.

One wonders about the much-vaunted European approach to gun control when one reads such reports. How prohibited is something when the penalties are so light?
The sentence does help explain why the Swedes were so quick to release Chatty on bail -- with punishment like this, why indeed flee?

Posted by David on December 20, 2002 11:36 AM