Annika Östberg is a Swedish-American woman who has been in a Californian prison since 1981 serving a sentence for accessory to murder, including that of a policeman. She has now been transferred to
Hinseberg Woman's Prison in Örebro to serve the remainder of her sentence in Sweden. The transfer was kept secret until a couple of days ago when it emerged that she was in transit in New York. The case has been very politically sensitive in the USA because Östberg has admitted that she was accessory to the murder of a policeman, a crime which could have led to a death sentence if she had not signed an agreement with the prosecutor admitting guilt to murder. (The victims' families have also been very involved in the process, in line with the US system.) Östberg had been sentenced to between 25 years and lifetime and had appealed four times to have her sentence time-limited, without success. Swedish government officials have tried to negotiate for a transfer for a long time but have not been successful until now.
According to media reporting it's not clear exactly what the agreement between the Swedish government and California is but one would suspect that the Americans have not agreed to this without imposing conditions. That said, I think Östberg will not be wasting too much time at Hinseberg. Literally. My guess is a year or so. As soon as she is allowed to appeal for a time-limited sentence, she will, and in all likelihood she will also be granted a limit and/or a pardon.
Most Swedes would argue that she has already served enough time. 27, soon 28, years in prison is a loooong time. The Swedish justice system sees criminals rather as victims who can - not in all but most cases - regret their actions and be helped to a new and better life. Sure, there are persons who in plain terms are pure evil - such as the Fritzls out there - but most perpetators have fallen into crime due to drugs, wrong circles of "friends", etc. resulting in a vicious circle of bad decisions and actions. Östberg can never do what she did undone - and she has clearly committed, or helped to commit a horrible crime - but there are circumstances such as heroin abuse and a life situation associated with that, that in a Swedish context would have let her complete her sentence years ago. Especially since she does not seem the type who would re-offend.
Putting away people indefinitely does not bring loved ones back or stop crime. The US, with
at least ten times as many prisoners per capita as Sweden, is not a safer society. The solution to society's ills is not that simple. We wish it were, but it's not.
I could write more about this, for example tell you about the American prison priest who visited the Swedish prison
Hall while I was part of a church group which met regularly with the inmates. Looking out over the facility, he asked "so how many prisoners do you hold here? 2,000, 3,000?". The Swedish priest looked a bit shocked and replied "200".
But enough said today.
In terms of the person who is Annika Östberg it will be quite interesting to hear what she thinks of Sweden in 2009. She is now 55 years old and has not been back in Sweden since she was 13. She is bound to have a very romantic view of Sweden. Returning to Sweden has been her dream and struggle since 1981 presumably and that dream and that struggle cannot be separated. They are two sides of the same coin. Hopefully she will not be disappointed either side.
UpdateAccording to Swedish Justice Minister Beatrice Ask, the USA has not set any terms for Annika Östberg's transfer and she will be treated like any other Swedish prisoner sentenced to life. This means that she can appeal to the Örebro District Court to have her life sentence commuted to a set number of years. The handling period for an appeal is four to six months. During that time the Swedish Prison and Probabation Service will help Östberg plan for life out of prison. Common procedure is to re-introduce prisoners to society in phases, via so-called halfway houses. After having spent a long time in prison, they are used to a very institutionalised, planned life where people are always telling them what to do. Suddenly being responsible to take all decisions on their own can be difficult and harmful without support. Many are also depressed over having taken the wrong decisions and missed so much of their lives and need help with dealing with that grief.
Östberg's wish is to work with dogs (which she has been doing in California) at the work co-operative
Basta, which specialises in activities and work training for ex-offenders and former drug addicts. In the beginning she may have a probabation officer either from the Prison and Probabation Service or a voluntary sector organisations (such as
Kris). They make sure she has somewhere to live and something to do. Some prisoners are offered a kind of foster family to manage the transition to a life in freedom and in society. Contact with family and other relatives are also important. Östberg only has her mother, after her son died in a car accident when he was 15.
Påskliljor (Easter flowers or daffodils) are a very typical spring flower in Sweden - These were beautifully placed by Mum on the steps to my parents' veranda.
The winter vacationing birds return to Sweden and to their summer house :)
With 20 degree temperatures I spent most of Easter weekend on the veranda reading a good book or the pile of Economists I had brought with me (as they come every week I always fall way behind on my economic and political reading but I don't really want to end the subscription; it's such a good magazine!)
Back home in Stockholm... The only Easter decoration we had this year was a little collection of spring flowers I bought at my local florist.
Most of my orchids look pretty miserable at the moment but this one is shooting a new stem. That must be a good sign!
Spring is also a time for new purchases. Here's a new lamp we bought for the little corner between the couch and window. 
No, it's not the kangaroo's tail (do they have tails?) or some other body part. I was also wondering a bit...
Did you know that the colours of the Swedish flag used to be reversed once upon a time?
Comes out mostly green I guess but this South African bush has light-yellow flowers. Though the spikes are more interesting of course.
The cactus fruit prickly pear, which grows in Malta, among other places.
Lions are yellow in a way - this is taken on one of the most amazing experiences I've had, when I was on safari (or game drive as they call it there) in South Africa.
Fire is yellow (or orange) - this is probably the world's most recognisable flame, at JFK's grave in Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C.
Beautiful rose in, if I remember correctly, Regent's Park in London.
Gold is a yellow of sorts - this is the gold doors to the bell tower next to the cathedral in Florence.
Yellow firepost in Newport, Rhode Island (USA) - don't think they come in that colour that often?
These cool little cactuses grow all over Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands.
Breakfast at a beautiful little B&B (Auberge Clermont) in the wine district in South Africa.
Lemons at the same B&B (and wine and fruit farm).
Yellow flower growing on the Swedish island of Gotland.
South African flower
Another yellow flower, this one from England.
View of a yellow hot air balloon over Stockholm, taken from another yellow balloon.
You know, the poet.
The modern mailboxes weren't half as nice as this old-style one.
Lots of alleys in Tallinn's Old Town.
One of many restaurants with interesting names.
Old Hansa building.
Trying to be creative with the camera in the restaurant where we had lunch (Aed).
Church clock - Didn't go inside though as I saw in when I was in town the early 1990s.
I like gates and doors!
We didn't eat at this restaurant but I like the sign!
A very delicious meal on our return trip with the boat - I had the duck at the fore of the picture 
