Prison case caused unrest about Kosovo plan – now agreement parties stand firm

A prison case caused unrest about the Kosovo plan – now the agreement parties stand firm

Two prison guards from Kosovo were presented in a preliminary court hearing on Wednesday, charged with having struck an inmate at Vestre Fængsel.

The plan to send convicted foreigners to serve sentences in Kosovo continues, following an orientation meeting with Justice Minister Nicolai Wammen (S). (Photo: © Sebastian Elias Uth, Ritzau Scanpix)

By Mie Haugaard ( [email protected] ) 41 minutes ago

Despite major upheavals across Christiansborg earlier today, several of the agreement parties behind a Kosovo prison have been reassured after an orientation meeting at the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday afternoon.

The plan to send convicted foreigners to serve sentences in Kosovo continues, but with increased focus on control, training and security following a criminal case that the parties describe as an isolated incident.

- This is not something that makes the Danish People's Party waver. We still believe that foreign criminals should serve their sentences abroad, says Anders Vistisen, legal spokesperson for the Danish People's Party, which was one of the parties that entered into the political agreement in 2021.

Earlier, the legal spokesperson had stated that the government had "failed and dragged its feet" with the agreement, and that it was the wrong choice of country to send foreign criminals to serve sentences in.

But after what Vistisen calls a "very serious meeting" with Justice Minister Nicolai Wammen (S), the tone is different.

- I think it's great that there has been decisive action. We also expect that to happen when there are prison places abroad.

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Charged prison guards struck inmate

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The reaction comes after two Kosovar prison guards were presented in a preliminary court hearing on Wednesday for assaulting an inmate while they were working at Vestre Fængsel. Both deny the charges.

The two guards are currently in Denmark after receiving six months of further training to handle the task of receiving future inmates at Gjilan prison, which Denmark leases in Kosovo.

Read also: Prison guards from Kosovo under training charged with striking inmate at Vestre Fængsel ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/faengselsbetjente-fra-kosovo-under-oplaering-sigtet-slaa-indsat-i-vestre-faengsel )

In the prison, foreigners who are sentenced to deportation from Denmark will serve their sentences. The latest information indicates that the places will be ready for use from the end of 2027 or the beginning of 2028.

It was the Danish People's Party, SF and the Conservatives who entered into the agreement in 2021 with the then Social Democratic single-party government.

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SF and the Conservatives are at ease

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SF, which now sits in government with the Social Democratic minister, has also been reassured by the meeting.

- I left with a sense of calm. I believe this is a one-off, and I trust that they are now looking at whether the training is good enough and the supervision in Kosovo afterwards, says Karina Lorentzen, legal spokesperson for SF.

The same calm applies to the legal spokesperson for the Conservative People's Party, Mai Mercado, who earlier today called the case of the two prison guards "complete nonsense":

- This case, which is truly outrageous and must not happen, also shows that decisive action is being taken, and I also expect that in the future.

Around 200 prison guards from Kosovo are to be trained in Danish prison practices.

Read also: Two violence-charged prison guards from Kosovo have been released ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/seneste/voldssigtede-faengselsbetjente-fra-kosovo-er-blevet-loesladt )

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'Shitty idea', says the Red-Green Alliance

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The Red-Green Alliance was not invited to the orientation at the Justice Minister's office on Wednesday, but earlier today the government's supporting party did not have kind words about the plan to send criminals to Kosovo.

- Fundamentally, it was just a shitty idea from the start, says Eva Flyvholm, legal spokesperson for the Red-Green Alliance.

She points particularly to problems with being able to guarantee the safety of inmates when it is a prison located in a country other than Denmark.

The Radical Left was also critical on Wednesday afternoon over the same concern, but now the meeting with Wammen has made legal spokesperson Maria Georgi "even more comfortable".

- The orientation reassures me a little, because they generally have positive experiences with these guards. And it makes me even more comfortable that they have stepped in with more further training, that it was handled quickly, and that they are now even more attentive to supervision, she tells DR after the meeting.

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