- It is unbelievably clean and tidy here, replied Lithuania’s Deputy Minister of Justice, Egle Radusyte, when asked what she had especially noticed during her tour of Oslo Prison.
Egle Radusyte was leading a delegation of six persons from the Lithuanian Ministry of Justice, who came to Oslo to get an impression of how the criminal administration system works in Norway.
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Text and photo: Knut-Erik Rønningen, published 07.03.08.
It was primarily our award winning remand project they came to hear more about. And they received an introduction to our routines for receiving new inmates, who are often both vulnerable and confused during their first few days in custodial remand.
Got to greet fellow citizens
They were also interested in how Lithuanian inmates coped, and how we solved the language difficulties. In Eastern bloc countries, most people understand Russian. We were able to inform our visitors that we have a Russian-speaking Salvation Army soldier who helps us in this connection. During the tour, they were also able to greet one of the Lithuanian inmates who currently resides here, but just what they talked about is only known by those who understand Lithuanian…
Serving a sentence in their home country
Another purpose of the tour was to strengthen the cooperation between Norway and the Republic of Lithuania, in order to allow Lithuanians who have been convicted in Norway to serve their sentences in their home country. During 2007, a total of five Lithuanians were deported and were obliged to serve the remainder of their sentences in Lithuania.
Old buildings
Otherwise, our visiting delegation was able to inform us that the criminal administration system in Lithuania is having to cope with a large number of old buildings. They are evaluating whether or not to sell a number of the older prisons, which are situated in the centre of towns, in order to finance the construction of new buildings. This is a problem which is also well recognized by Oslo Prison. In fact, it was once proposed that Oslo Prison should be sold and rebuilt as a hotel. However, we now feel sure that we will carry on running the prison here for many years to come.
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