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| Europe |
| Norway Offers to Fill Empty Swedish Prison Cells |
| 2013-12-13 |
| [An Nahar] In an effort to solve its growing prison shortage, Norway has asked to rent prison space in neighboring Sweden, the Norwegian justice ministry said Thursday. In a letter sent this week to his Swedish counterpart Beatrice Ask, Norway's Justice Minister Anders Anundsen explained that the situation in his country made it necessary to "look for extraordinary methods." "I know that Sweden has vacant places and that some correctional facilities are closing down," he wrote. "Thus, I want to raise the possibility of renting prison places." About 1,200 people are currently waiting to serve sentences in Norway but are unable to due to lack of prison space, according to the justice ministry. Swedish Prison and Probation figures show that the country's inmate population dropped by one percent a year between 2004 and 2010, and by six percent in 2011 and 2012, down to about 4,300 inmates today. Some have attributed Sweden's diminishing prison population to the increased use of non-custodial sentences, including electronic tagging and community service. Sweden has 82 prison facilities and closed down four of them and one rehabilitation center in the last year. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Long-term and group rates available. Dial 1-800-GITMO |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-12-13 01:10 |