Criticism of the Swedish Prison and Probation Service’s procedures for recording and listening back to inmates’ electronic communication. Also criticism of Kronoberg Remand Prison for its processing of requests for copies of such recordings.

Summary of the decision: On certain conditions, inmates on remand may be given permission for electronic communication, which is recorded and listened back to later. Permission may be revoked due to information that emerges when a conversation is listened back to, or if the Swedish Prison and Probation Service finds that the inmate has repeatedly failed to comply with the terms of permission.

In their decision, the Parliamentary Ombudsman states that it is self-evident that, in conjunction with notification of suspected manipulation of the system or failure to comply with the terms of permission, the inmate must be informed of both what has been noted when listening back to the conversation and, when this is the case, that repeated infringements may result in permission being revoked. The inmate should then be informed of the prerequisites for receiving a copy of the recording and documentation of the observations. According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, recordings of such conversations should not be erased immediately that an official note of the contents is drawn up.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman criticises Kronoberg Remand Prison for inadequate processing of an inmate’s repeated requests to listen to recordings of conversations during which infringements were alleged to have taken place, resulting in the revocation of two of the inmate’s telephone permits.