Apart from murderers and thieves, also serving time were fraudsters, drug dealers, reckless drivers and rapists. The number of prisoners decreased by 4 percent over 2015 and as many as 96 percent of them were men.
The decrease in the number of inmates is attributed to the fact that low-risk first-time convicts found guilty of minor crimes are increasingly given alternative sentences such as community service and probation. Many of them serve their sentences in low-security facilities.
Last year 37 percent of the prisoners did not have prior convictions, 17 percent were previously given suspended sentences or were fined, while 46 percent served time in the past. Among the first-time convicts, 32 percent were previously given suspended sentences or were fined.
Among the female prisoners, 51 percent did not have prior convictions, 32 percent were previously given suspended sentences or were fined, while 26 percent previously did time in prison.
Slightly fewer than 19 percent of prisoners were drug addicts.
The ratio of prisoners to judicial police officers had slightly improved from previous years and was slightly less than two prisoners per officer in 2016.
An interesting point is that there was no use of truncheons last year. The report noted that the use of truncheons started to decrease in 2013 as the use of sprays containing harmless substances increased.
Last year nine inmates attempted to commit suicide, the same number as in 2015, and 31 managed to escape.