70 men and one woman are serving life sentences in Latvian prisons. Many have asked for early release

Latvian legislation also provides for early release for them – if they have spent at least 25 years in prison. What is the general picture in prisons, and has anyone been released early during these years? The “tv3.lv” portal contacted the Prisons Administration and the Ministry of Justice.

Several life-sentenced persons have appealed to the court with a proposal to release them on parole, including with electronic monitoring, the Prisons Administration told the “tv3.lv” portal, however, the conditional early release of life-sentences has not yet taken place.

However, how is the possibility of early release assessed, and is there a real possibility of returning to society afterwards? The Ministry of Justice and the Prisons Administration state that those sentenced to life have the right to be released on parole. As in Latvia, in most countries of the European Union, those sentenced to life have the possibility of being released from serving their sentence.

A convict who wants to be released on parole before the deadline is carefully evaluated – the evaluation is carried out by both the prison and the State Probation Service, so the court has complete information to make a high-quality decision.

Administration of prisons

Just like convicts who serve a long sentence in a prison, those sentenced to life can also have difficulties in returning to society, thus we attach great importance to the resocialization of convicts.

The conditions of imprisonment are similar to those of other prisoners

When asked about the conditions under which life prisoners spend their time in prison, the Prisons Administration states that convicts serve their sentences in similar conditions as other convicts. Likewise, those sentenced to life are provided with similar opportunities as other prisoners – those sentenced to life are involved in resocialization programs and receive the necessary health care.

On the other hand, when asked to comment on the sufficiency of the infrastructure for housing “lifers” in Latvian prisons, the Prisons Administration told the “tv3.lv” portal that there is currently no problem in the prison system to accommodate life convicts, and as their number changes, the prison system adapts to it.

Liepāja prison is a new and improved penal system in Latvia

Currently, work is actively underway on the construction project of the new Liepāja prison, which is planned to be completed at the end of 2025.

As the portal “tv3.lv” was informed by the Ministry of Justice, a new and improved punishment execution system in Latvia will be launched in the new prison, the task of which is to reduce repeated crimes, motivate prisoners to become law-abiding, strengthen state and public security.

The new prison will have more effective resocialization opportunities for prisoners, a large employment center and a place for prisoners to study. The prison will be equipped with new, state-of-the-art technology that will help staff better monitor prisoners.

It is estimated on the website of the Ministry of Justice that – if as a result of resocialization, the number of registered crimes can be reduced by one percent, then the state will not have to spend funds on the investigation and trial of at least 337 crimes, as well as on the execution of the sentences of persons convicted of these crimes, including the execution of imprisonment (custodial sentences execution expenses for 300 persons in 2022 amounted to approximately 5.6 million euros).

Photo: Liepaja prison construction

There are currently nine prisons in Latvia and six of them are more than 100 years old. Prison buildings and infrastructure are generally physically and morally outdated, they do not meet the needs of the prison, as they were not originally built as prisons, but adapted over time. On the other hand, Estonia has successfully implemented prison reform since 1991, closing all old-type prisons and building 3 completely new prisons in their place, meeting international requirements. This will be the first newly built prison in Latvia after the restoration of Latvia’s independence.

On November 22, 2022, SIA “Courthouse Agency” and the procurement winner SIA “Citrus Solutions” signed a contract for the design, author supervision and construction works of a new prison complex in Liepāja. Based on the decision of the procurement commission, a contract was concluded for the total amount of 125,874,569.87 euros, excluding VAT.

Liepāja prison has places for 1200 prisoners. The entire complex includes six different buildings.

The total area of ​​the territory is 305,116 square meters, the project includes six buildings with a total area of ​​almost 37,000 square meters. The complex will be located 5.6 kilometers from the center of Liepāja. As one of the main factors in the design of the prison, the safety of the prisoners, as well as the staff and the public, has been put forward. The new prison will provide a new approach to the organization of prison execution, extensive resocialization opportunities for prisoners, a large employment center with work opportunities for prisoners, as well as a place for prisoner training.

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