65 foreign prisoners were sent out of Norway last year, to serve their sentences in their homeland. It set a new record.
‘The government has ensured that even more foreigners in Norwegian prisons have been repatriated to their homeland.
By transferring more, we ensure that they do not occupy prison places in Norway’, said Justice Minister, Per-Willy Amundsen,
to news agency NTB.
‘This is the highest number ever. We are very pleased with it’, he added.
21 convicts were transferred to Lithuania, while Romania was second on the list, with 13 transferred.
The Correctional Agency (KDI) is responsible for the work of sentence transfers.
The total led to a saving of 36,823 prison days spent by foreigners in Norwegian prisons. This equates to over 100 prison places, with 100% occupancy
in one year.
‘Correctional Services are pleased that we are able to keep the number of incarceration transfers up. This is in line with the political guidelines in
which we work’, said director, Marianne Vollan, of the Correctional Services Directorate.
Aiming for more
The government hopes to put in place even more contracts for transfers during this year. According to Amundsen.There are ongoing negotiations
with Serbia and other countries.
‘With the total number coming from outside Norway, we estimate that there is potential to transfer 80-100 prisoners a year. We begin, then, to approach
some limitations’, he said.
At the beginning of December, queues of those serving sentences in Norwegian prisons continued to shrink. 242 convicts then stood in line, against 1,213
in October 2013. The Fremskrittspartiet (FRP) believes a reconciliation agreement with the Netherlands is responsible for this development.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
