Justice minister: Czech prison system could collapse

The Czech Republic’s prison system is on the verge of collapse, Justice Minister Daniela Kovářová told reporters on Wednesday. Czech prisons currently hold some 22,000 inmates, the highest number in nearly ten years. Meanwhile, another 7,500 convicts have not yet started serving their sentences. If part of them commenced serving them now, a crisis scenario would have to be to put in place. Inmates would have to be accommodated in areas that are not designed to that purpose, such as prison gyms, the head of the Czech Prison Service, Luděk Kula, said. The justice minister noted that Czech prisons were overcrowded, and inaction could lead to the collapse of the whole system.

Author: Jan Richter