Denmark wants to rent 300 prison places in Kosovo

A new political agreement in Denmark will secure up to 1,000 new prison places, of which 300 will be rented in Kosovo.

“Among other things, we agree that we want to rent prison places in Kosovo for the deportation of convicts from third countries. And we are expanding (capacity) with more prison places in Danish prisons both in the short and long term,” Minister of Justice Nick Hækkerup said about the agreement his party (the Social Democrats) have negotiated with the Danish People’s Party, SF, and the Conservatives.

Over the past year, the Danish Ministry of Justice has negotiated with Kosovo on the terms for renting prison places in the country. Several meetings still have to be carried out before the contract can be signed.

Hækkerup says he feels confident that the scheme will be able to withstand the scrutiny of the European Court of Human Rights, should that become relevant.

“We have done everything we can to ensure that this is within the rules. What applies to prisons in Denmark will also apply to prisons in Kosovo,” he said.

From 2015 to 2018, Norway rented 242 high-security places in a prison in the Netherlands.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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