COUNCIL OF EUROPE REPS ATTENDING PRISON SYSTEM SEMINAR IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, March 27 (Hina) - Croatian Deputy Justice Minister Ranko Marijan on Monday opened a two-day seminar, "The Organisation of the Prison System", organised by the Council of Europe and Croatia's Ministry of Justice, Government and Local Self- Government. According to Lilia Kolombet-Monnet, a Council of Europe adviser on crime issues, the Council's co-operation programme for this year envisages a reform of the prison system in Southeast Europe. The programme is the Council's contribution to the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, while the seminar is part of the programme, Kolombet-Monnet said. Speaking about the prison system in Croatia, Assistant Justice Minister Vjekoslav Jazbec said 1,347 persons last year served sentences in five detention centres in the country. Convicts whose sentences are less than five years are detained in semi-open prisons. Croatian convicts are entitled to full health care, and are given the opportunity to work in prison workshops. Jazbec reminded a psycho-social assistance centre was opened in Zagreb's Remetinec, Croatia's largest prison, in 1998. The two-day seminar will tackle new ways of planning and procedure in prison administration. In attendance are legal experts from Croatia, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, and Sweden, who will also visit two prisons. (hina) ha mm