By 2027, Denmark would relocate its foreign convicts to a prison in Kosovo under a 200-million-euro (US$228.6 million) agreement that has raised concerns among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and residents, but which could serve as a model for the rest of the EU.
The agreement, reached in 2022 and ratified by Kosovar lawmakers last year, provides for the reception of up to 300 foreign prisoners sentenced in Denmark. They must not have been convicted of terrorism or war crimes, or have a mental condition or terminal disease. Once their sentence is completed in Kosovan, they would be deported to their home country.
In exchange, Denmark would pay 200 million euros — more than six times the annual budget of the Kosovar Ministry of Justice. The detainees would be imprisoned in a dedicated facility in the village of Pasjak, about 50km southeast of the capital, Pristina, where work on the renovation of the facility is to start soon.
Photo: AFP
From the main road, the narrow path leading to the red-bricked prison divides the village in two, leaving about 1,500 residents on one side. The school, mosque and cemetery are on the other side near the prison itself, which is surrounded by high walls with barbed wire and observation posts.
However, concerns about the deal have emerged among prison staff.
“We will continue to work for the same pay, but under a Danish regime, which is therefore more demanding, and whose standards are among the highest in Europe,” one of them said.
The agreement stipulates that Kosovo “must make the necessary adjustments to the prison facilities to ensure they meet the requirements of the sending state,” Kosovo Correctional Service director Ismail Dibrani said.
“Of course, the layout will be adapted to the Danish prison system,” he said, specifying that there would be “workshops where prisoners can work in printing, sewing, design, etc.”
On the Danish side, the government appointed senior official Mads Beyer in April to codirect the prison, in cooperation with local authorities.
His job would be “to ensure that prisoners serve their sentences in accordance with Danish rules and under conditions similar to those applied in Danish prisons,” he said.
The UN Committee Against Torture, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and several NGOs have expressed concern about the project.
However, the initiative is being keenly watched across Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron recently said that prisoner relocation was “not taboo,” while Sweden on Tuesday said it was looking to rent prison places in Estonia.
“Unlike the majority of European states that are facing prison overcrowding, we have sufficient capacity,” Dibrani said.
“Our prison capacity is currently 2,500 places, while we instantly have around 1,800 prisoners,” he added.
“After signing the agreement, we received a number of requests from European countries, for huge sums of money, but we haven’t discussed it yet,” he said. “We already have a lot of work to do for our own country.”
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