ZAGREB, March 21 (Hina) - Justice Minister Ingrid Anticevic Marinovic said at a government session on Thursday the main problem of the Croatian prison system was lack of accommodation facilities.
ZAGREB, March 21 (Hina) - Justice Minister Ingrid Anticevic
Marinovic said at a government session on Thursday the main problem
of the Croatian prison system was lack of accommodation facilities.
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"Lack of accommodation facilities is a burning problem," she said,
submitting a report on the situation in the prison system.
The minister says that the Law on the Serving of Prison Sentences
offers great possibilities for improving the prison system,
because it incorporates European principles and standards,
including the one on four square metres of space per prisoner.
The minister says that despite some incidents, the general security
situation in the Croatian prisons is satisfactory. There have been
no cases of rebellion, torture and terrorising, or hostage crises,
which is common in Europe and the rest of the world, she says.
The prison population has completely changed in the last ten years,
with drug addicts currently making up the largest part of the prison
population, she said, adding that this imposed new obligations
regarding the treatment of drug addicts.
The minister said another problem was lack of qualified staff,
primarily highly educated staff like doctors, lawyers etc.
The government today gave the green light for the allocation of 18.3
million kuna of budgetary funds for the financing of minority
associations and institutions.
A total of 4.7 million kuna will be given to the Serb national
minority, 3.9 million to the Italian and 2.1 and 1.6 million kuna to
the Hungarian and Czech minorities, respectively. The Romanies
will be given 1.5 million kuna.
(hina) rml,