The number of hate crimes committed in Sweden decreased in 2010 compared to the year before, according to statistics from Sweden’s National Council of Crime Prevention (Brottsförebygganderådet – BRÅ).
“We have been saying for several years that here has been a decrease. It is a bit sensitive because public opinion is of the impression that hate crimes are on the up,” said police officer Mikael Ekman, one of the founders of the hate crimes unit at Stockholm police to news agency TT.
In 2010 there were 5,140 confirmed hate crimes, compared to 5,800 in 2009 and 5,900 in 2008.
However, within these figures, the share of islamophobic hate crimes increased with 40 percent while antisemitic and homophobic hate crimes went down.
