The fact that Swedish police tacitly held a registry of Roma people undoubtedly tarnished the Nordic country’s reputation as a champion of human rights. After a protracted trial, the Roma victims were finally awarded millions of kronor in compensation.

In 2013, the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter revealed that police in Sweden’s southernmost Skåne County maintained a registry of Roma people. Subsequently, the news of ethnic profiling sparked outrage in Swedish society, spurring eleven Roma to sue the Swedish state.

After a long-drawn-out dispute featuring several appeals, the High Court assessed the controversial registry as discriminatory and ruled that all entries should be entitled to a compensation of 35,000 SEK ($4,000). The Chancellor of Justice accepted the verdict, pledging to refrain from further appeals.

In total, the registry featured 4,700 people, including more than 1,000 children. The Skåne police maintained then that the registry was based on crime, rather than ethnicity.

Full story: sputniknews.com

Sputnik International