Aktuellt accompanied 21-year-old Saga to court.

She really did not want to testify, but with the support of the crime victim's volunteers, she made it through the day.  

Saga had seen the shooting - and she recognized the shooter.

The police showed up.

Asked questions.

She thought of everything she had heard about witnesses who had been threatened, murdered or forced to change their names and lives. 

- I first asked not to have to testify, but I was the only witness, she says. 

The police said that it would cost her SEK 4,000 if she did not appear at the trial the first time.

Next time it would cost even more and eventually the police would come and pick her up.

She wishes there had been an opportunity to testify anonymously. 

Concerns among crime victim hotlines

It is not uncommon for witnesses to suffer from memory loss or claim to have looked in another direction.

It is especially common in crimes such as threats and harassment, says Nathalie Hansdotter who works with the crime victim shelters' witness support.

- It is about gang criminals, about crime-active young people and about violence in close relationships, says Nathalie Hansdotter. 

What worries the crime victim hotlines is that it spreads to completely different crimes where the risk of getting into trouble is very small.  

- We come across that people do not want to testify about shoplifting or that they have seen a pub fight, says Nathalie Hansdotter.  

Her colleague Malin Bengtsson believes that it is partly the media's dramatic reporting about witnesses and crime victims who have been forced to go underground or have happened even worse that is part of the explanation. 

- The media has a rather nuanced picture of what it is like to testify and what the consequences can be of testifying.

Volunteers support

SVT asked crime victim hotlines all over the country and a majority of those who responded stated that they see an increased reluctance to testify.  

It was with heavy steps that Saga went to trial.

But she was met by a crime victim supporter, a volunteer who supported her.

And afterwards, it still felt pretty okay. 

- It was nervous.

But it felt good that the accused was moved to another room so I did not see his facial expression, says Saga. 

It was above all one thing that made her relax, the fact that the accused admitted that he was the one who fired.

Saga's testimony was not conclusive.

Therefore, she also does not think it will feel nasty if she were to encounter the convict in the future.