Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

March 9, 2022

Russia: Parliament approves jail for ‘fake’ war reports

News

Europe Russia

Novaya Gazeta newspaper removes content and BBC suspends Russian operations after draft bill passes.

March 9, 2022

Russia: From prison, Navalny urges Russians to rise up and ‘stop the war’

News

Europe Russia

The jailed anti-Kremlin activist branded Putin an “obviously insane czar” in a string of tweets from behind bars.

March 9, 2022

Ukraine: prisoners with combat experience will be released to help defend the nation against Russian invasion

News

Europe Ukraine

Zelensky said the decision was ‘not easy from the moral point of view’but he stressed that the defence of the nation was now the highest priority.

March 7, 2022

Switzerland: the role of forensic psychiatric expertise

Interview

Europe Access to legal rights Justice Health Mental health Switzerland

Psychiatric expertise has grown in the last few years, especially in assessing recidivism risk. Can risk really be predicted? Interview.

February 24, 2022

France: Psychiatry at the service of security

Interview

Europe Health Mental health Suicide France

Fresnes, Fleury-Mérogis, la Santé: for 25 years, Cyrille Canetti witnessed the shift of prison psychiatry. (Critical) interview about psychiatry and prison.

February 24, 2022

España: La cárcel desde la mirada del Cine

News

Culture Europe Spain

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

February 24, 2022

Ukraine: The prison population should be included in evacuation plans

News

Europe Justice Health Violence Ukraine

A Ukrainian organisation defending human rights shares its concerns regarding the situation of prisoners.

February 11, 2022

España : Instituciones Penitenciarias quiere trasladar 200 presos de la península a Ceuta

News

Europe Facilities Spain

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

February 10, 2022

Austria: through the lens of the incarcerated

Investigations

Coronavirus Europe Foreign prisoners Overcrowding Alternatives Rehabilitation Work Austria

Prisons might be one of the most severely underreported spheres in our otherwise heavily investigated world. Journalist Sarah Yolanda Koss dives into Austrian prison issues.

February 9, 2022

France: poor prisons

Interview

Europe Justice Material conditions Work France

How does prison contribute to poverty? Emmaus France and the Catholic Relief Services (le Secours Catholique) have published a report on the issue. It includes 25 recommendations to help improve the situation.

January 24, 2022

Suisse : Les oubliés de la dispute carcérale

News

Europe Switzerland

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

January 20, 2022

Suisse : Champ-Dollon, prison impossible à réformer

News

Europe Switzerland

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

January 18, 2022

Years in the Row

Analysis Thematic paper

Africa Women Asia Europe Minors Foreign prisoners Discipline Health Mental health Drugs Material conditions Overcrowding Death penalty Torture

Some people fear death every morning. Others are sentenced to death in countries that no longer carry out executions. At least 483 executions were documented in 2020. Prison Insider publishes an overview of practices in nine countries that have not abolished the death penalty.

January 18, 2022

Belarus: detention conditions of people sentenced to death

Analysis

Europe Access to legal rights Material conditions Death penalty Torture Social ties Belarus

Belarus is the only European country where the death penalty is applied. Data relating to death sentences and executions are confidential. The time between trial and execution is very short. The country has been condemned several times for failing to respect the right to a fair trial.

January 11, 2022

United Kingdom: seen in the press / 2022

News

Europe United Kingdom

Violence, acts of protest, prison conditions, justice reforms: find out what is new about prisons and justice in this country. Prison Insider monitors the press on a regular basis.

January 10, 2022

France: seen in the press / 2022

News

Europe France

Violence, acts of protest, prison conditions, justice reforms: find out what is new about prisons and justice in this country. Prison Insider monitors the press on a regular basis.

January 10, 2022

Belgium: seen in the press / 2022

News

Europe Belgium

Violence, acts of protest, prison conditions, justice reforms: find out what is new about prisons and justice in this country. Prison Insider monitors the press on a regular basis.

January 10, 2022

Spain: 2021, a year of high-profile crimes and convictions

News

Europe Justice Spain

Judges handed down prison sentences against the perpetrators of murders that shocked the nation, such as the killing of the schoolteacher Laura Luelmo.

January 10, 2022

Turkey: seen in the press / 2022

News

Europe Turkey

Violence, acts of protest, prison conditions, justice reforms: find out what is new about prisons and justice in this country. Prison Insider monitors the press on a regular basis.

January 6, 2022

Ukraine : Un ancien détenu d’une prison secrète du Donbass raconte

News

Europe Material conditions Torture Ukraine

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

January 6, 2022

Italie : En prison, “la génération de mafiosi la plus cultivée de tous les temps”

News

Culture Europe Long-term prisoners Activities Italy

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

January 6, 2022

Austria: Final destination, Göllersdorf

Investigations

Coronavirus Europe Health Mental health Social ties Rehabilitation Austria

In a tiny village in Lower Austria lies one of the country’s “special institutions for mentally abnormal, unsound offenders”. Journalist Sarah Yolanda Koss dives into the everyday life of those imprisoned in the Göllersdorfer castle.

January 3, 2022

España: La realidad invisible de los presos con trastornos mentales: "Prisión y salud mental son antagónicos"

News

Europe Mental health Spain

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

December 23, 2021

Netherlands: Why the Dutch are closing prisons – and what they’re doing with empty ones

News

Culture Europe Facilities Netherlands

The Netherlands has reduced its prison population to such a degree that it’s now turning old prisons into socially useful buildings, such as schools and refugee centres. What went right?