Sweden eyes end to some prosecution limits

STOCKHOM, Sweden, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Sweden is considering abolishing the statute of limitations for crimes punishable by life in prison, officials said.

These crimes include murder, genocide and major acts of terrorism -- all now subject to a 25-year statute of limitations, the Swedish News agency TT reported.

"I'm convinced that people would find it reprehensible if a murderer was to come along after 25 years and confess to a murder," Centre Party justice spokesman Johan Linander told Svenska Dagbladet. "No matter when the crime was committed, the perpetrator should be held to account."

Pointing to improvements in DNA technology, the government also calls for evidence in crimes covered in the bill to be retained for 70 years. It is now retained for 30 years.

The government would like the law on the statute of limitations to be retroactive so adults could be prosecuted for murders committed in the past 25 years.

Opposition party justice experts favor the bill, and it is expected to pass into law in mid-2010, just before the 25th anniversary of the unsolved murder of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme.