After months of alarm raised by female inmates and prison staff, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service has decided to transfer the convicted double murderer and transgender individual “Lily Abdelshahed” (formerly Paulus Abdelshahed) from the women’s prison in Ystad to a men’s facility. The decision follows reports of sexual harassment and widespread insecurity among the female inmates. The prison director testifies to the challenges of placing biological men among women.
Samnytt has covered the legal case of the 39-year-old Egyptian man who claims to be a woman and was sentenced to life imprisonment for gassing his two children to death in Södertälje. Now it is clear that the Egyptian, who admitted to lying to obtain asylum in Sweden, will be placed in a women’s prison.
After changing legal gender and taking the name Lily Abdelshahed, the convicted child murderer was moved from the men’s prison in Tidaholm to the women’s prison in Ystad in the autumn of 2025.
The placement has since sparked strong reactions. Female inmates have described a climate of fear and sexual harassment, while both prison staff and union representatives have raised the alarm about the situation.
Now, the Prison and Probation Service has decided to terminate the placement and move Abdelshahed back to a men’s facility.
READ ALSO: Trans migrant gassed his children to death – sentenced to life imprisonment and deportation
According to an article in Expressen, female inmates felt so unsafe that they began avoiding common areas of the facility. The shower areas were described as particularly vulnerable spaces.
Several women reported that Abdelshahed behaved in a sexually inappropriate way and exposed genitalia to other inmates.
– Lily is tall, broad, and bearded, walks around in an overly short nightgown and shows off the penis, which dangles freely, a female prisoner told Expressen.
Even staff have reacted to the behavior. According to the newspaper, both correctional officers and inmates expressed frustration that Abdelshahed eventually stopped using makeup and no longer made any clear attempts to appear as a woman.
Reports on the situation were submitted as early as October last year, but despite repeated complaints, it wasn’t until now that the Prison and Probation Service decided to relocate Abdelshahed.
Director: “Biological man” among female inmates
Susanne Wedin, division director at the Prison and Probation Service, spoke to Expressen about the problems that arise when men present themselves as women.
She also describes the issues that occur when a biological man with female legal gender is placed among female inmates.
– It is a very difficult and complex situation when we have a, in this case a biological man, who is to be placed among women, she says.
Murdered His Two Children – Blamed Gender Identity
It was in April 2024 that Abdelshahed’s then wife made the horrific discovery in the family home. The couple’s two children were found lifeless in their parents’ bed, beside their father. Both had been suffocated to death. Abdelshahed had also attempted suicide, but survived.
During the investigation, the child murderer claimed that the acts could have been avoided if it had been possible to live fully as a woman.
READ ALSO: Egyptian child murderer in Södertälje: I lied to get asylum
In December the same year, Abdelshahed was sentenced to life imprisonment and deportation. The sentence began at the men’s prison in Tidaholm, but after the legal gender change in autumn 2025, Abdelshahed requested a transfer to a women’s facility.
The Prison and Probation Service granted the request, and the transfer to Ystad was carried out. As a rule, the authority places inmates based on their legal gender, though exceptions can be made.
Minister of Justice Reacted – But Moderates Behind the Law Change
Reports of the Egyptian trans individual’s behavior at Ystad have drawn criticism from both political circles and women’s rights organizations.
Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (Moderates) previously described the reports as “offensive and upsetting” and emphasized that female inmates must be able to feel safe during their time in prison.
– We cannot have a situation where women in prison risk being exposed to this kind of harassment or violations, he told Expressen.
At the same time, it is actually Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer’s own party, the Moderates, that spearheaded the legislation enabling this situation. The decision to transfer the Egyptian to a women’s prison was made after a legal gender change during the time in prison.
The gender change was made possible by the new gender identity law, which entered into force under Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s (Moderates) government and which makes it considerably easier to change one’s legal gender in Sweden’s population register.
READ ALSO: Here are all the politicians who voted YES to the gender recognition law