Terrorist convict Rakhmat Akilov involved in new fights at Tidaholm prison

Rakhmat Akilov, 48, was sentenced to life in prison for the terrorist act on Drottninggatan in 2017. Since then, he has been locked up in some of Sweden's most heavily guarded prison wards.

The years in prison have been turbulent for Akilov. For a long time he was in the Fenix ​​Department of the Correctional Service, which has the absolute highest level of security. There he has several times gotten into conflicts, threatened staff and received several warnings for misconduct.

But in May last year he was moved to Tidaholm prison. An institution with the highest security class but with a somewhat freer environment than at Fenix.

There, too, things have gotten messy. In March this year, he is said to have been upset when he was not allowed to change his cell and said he would "do Drottninggatan again". The following month, a fight broke out with the cellmate after he allegedly farted in the cell. According to Akilov, he was subsequently threatened with death.

Escalating situation

Now new documents from the Correctional Service provide a picture of how the situation surrounding Rakhmat Akilov has become increasingly conflict-ridden in recent months.

• Two violent incidents in two days in August. A surveillance video shows Akilov putting a fellow inmate by the neck and kicking him in the stomach. The man fights back and several other prisoners are forced to intervene. The following day, staff are alerted to a cell where Akilov and another prisoner are in a "full fight". Akilov is beaten, bitten on the arm and bleeding under the eye. Both incidents were reported to the police.

• 45 minutes – then seclusion again. After the fights in August, Akilov is placed in solitary confinement. At the beginning of September, a new attempt is made to let him stay together. Several inmates react strongly, calling him "damn terrorist" and making threatening gestures. Rakhmat Akilov himself states that the situation feels "very threatening". At 2:15 p.m., just 45 minutes after his earlier seclusion had been lifted, he is brought back to the seclusion ward.

No suitable location

In mid-September, the Correctional Service decided that Akilov would continue to be kept in isolation. The authority had then been unable to find a suitable placement together with other prisoners at Tidaholm.

The earliest Rakhmat Akilov can apply to have his life sentence fixed in time is the spring of 2029. Then the court will, among other things, consider how he behaved during his time in prison - and the Probation Service has repeatedly informed him that his misbehavior may be important in that trial.