Life not too rosy in Polish jails
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
14.03.2016 12:00
Jail cells in Poland have less space per prisoner than in most other EU countries, according to the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights.
Photo: Flickr.com/Ellen Schauer
The country’s Prison Service says that 71,633 people are being held in Polish jails, which have a total capacity of 83,491.
"Although the situation has improved considerably in recent years when it comes to the population of penitentiary units, the minimum area of a residential cell in Polish jails is still barely three square metres per prisoner," said Dr. Ewa Dawidziuk of the office of the Commissioner for Human Rights.
That figure, she said, is among the lowest in the European Union.
The equivalent figure in Belgium is nine sq m, in Portugal seven sq m, and in Turkey, eight to nine sq m, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.
The problem of overcrowding is one of the most frequently raised issues in prisoners' complaints to the European Court of Human Rights, according to website of the Commissioner for Human Rights. (pk)
Source: PAP