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The government extends prison agreement with the Netherlands

Prison, au pairsPrison: Photo:Pixabay

Norway has extended their agreement to rent a space in Norgerhaven jail in the Netherlands until October 2019, Justice Minister Per-Willy Amundsen (Frp) said.

 

 

“We have decided to rent space in a prison in the Netherlands for a year and propose to allocate 89.2 million kroner to this in next year’s state budget,” the Justice Minister told Nettavisen.

On Tuesday, he informed his Dutch counterpart that Norway wishes to extend the agreement until the end of September 2019.

The agreement with Norgerhaven Prison in the Netherlands was signed in 2015. The duration of the agreement was three years, with the option of extending for one year at a time.

Although the government maintains that the agreement has been a success and that it has contributed to reduce atonement queues in Norway, several have criticized the solution.

Civilian Ombudsman Aage Thor Falkanger pointed out, that among other things, an inspection shows that inmates transferred to that prison are not given adequate protection from Norwegian authorities against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

Jusbuss has stated that he is against this agreement, while the Labor Party has said that they will terminate the agreement with Norgerhaven should they be the majority in Parliament.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today