Prison inmates` rebellion attempts not ruled out
Baku, Oct 24 (AZERTAC) - Further attempts to plan a rebellion in Czech prisons, which are overcrowded, may appear soon, following the attempt that the police and prison wardens uncovered earlier this month, Prison Service director Jiri Tregler admitted in a discussion programme on Czech Television (CT). The recent uncovering of the simultaneous preparation of a rebellion by inmates in five prisons was exceptional, but it reflects the situation in the Czech Prison Service, Tregler said. He said the Prison Service`s budget for 2012 is insufficient. "Economic experts say the Prison Service will be short of some 1.3 billion crowns next year," he added. Up two 20 billion crowns would be needed to repair the buildings and complexes managed by the Prison Service alone, Tregler said. Although the number of inmates has been rising in the past years, the Prison Service`s budget has been declining. In 2009, the budget was 8.3 billion crowns, compared to this year`s 7.3 billion. The Justice Ministry`s draft budget for 2012 allots 7.62 billion crowns to the Prison Service. Tregler said the police suspect six people in connection with the recently unveiled rebellion plan, but their number may rise as the investigation is still underway. "The investigation has not uncovered any failure of the Prison Service staff so far," he said. In a recent raid, prison wardens uncovered weapons that inmates of the Prague-Pankrac prison secretly produced and hid in workshops they worked in. Figures from mid-October show that the capacities of the country`s 36 prison facilities are occupied at 113 percent on average.
There is a total of some 23,000 inmates in Czech prisons and their number will increase to 24,000 by the end of the year, Tregler said. According to a three-year old analysis, 22,750 inmates is the highest number Czech prisons can "absorb," he said, adding that further 5,500 people are waiting for starting their prison sentences. In two prisons, Pribram, central Bohemia, and Kurim, south Moravia, the capacities have been transgressed by as much as 30 percent, Tregler continued. He said the Prison Service does not have any instruments to influence the situation. "The problem is rising and I`m afraid the problem would escalate unless the budget, i.e. the staff, were markedly reinforced," Tregler said. There are 4000 inmates more in Czech prisons than in 2005, but the Prison Service`s budget has remained unchanged since, he said.
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