Kosovo nations with European “ ” infrastructure, but influenced by politics (Video)

Prisons in Kosovo do not differ from those in the region. Investments that have been made in recent years even list Kosovo first in terms of the infrastructure state of prisons.

So says Behxhet Shala, director of the Council for the Protection of Freedoms and Human Rights ( KMDLNj, an organisation that monitors the country's prisons.

On the other hand, Shala considers that managing the Correcting Service is far from international standards, due to policy influences.

The state of prisons is better... We actually make comparisons from the past, but we also make comparisons with countries in the region. And if we make these comparisons, then we can say that the state of Kosovo prisons is nothing different from the state of prisons in the region. Even, in some conditions we are much better off than Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia”, says KMDLNJ director, in a conversation for Online Economy.

But, Shala stresses that Kosovo does not need such large numbers of prisons.

Kosovo is somehow, with the increase in prison capacities, becoming a prison site with untapped capacities. There is no logic to build a prison in Hyvali that has the capacity for 600 detainees, while Kosovo does not have a total of 600 detained. We have centres in Prizren, Peja, North Mitrovica, Lipjan, Dubrava. There are not enough planning for Kosovo detention centres”, Shala said in this interview.

Despite infrastructure to a relatively modern extent, Shala finds that the management of the Correct Service is far from international standards.

The Kosovo Correcting Service has been working for four to five years with an unchanged budget then cannot expect any qualitative change in Kosovo prisons. They cannot be better because of political influence. Politics is what greatly affects the selection of those who lead the” Correcting Service.

KMDLNj thinks the leader of the Kosovo Correcting Service should have the status of a judge, suppose, at the Constitutional Court or ombudsman; not have the mandate related to retirement.

The blame for mismanagement, he leaves it to the internationals.

I can't leave the responsibility to the locals alone now, because a long time ago the internationals have prison directors and by the end of the day, but they still have an impact on decision making, as the consultants are presented, but they are very involved in decision making”, Shala said.

Kosovo's corrective service manages 10 correctional centres; of them 6 are detention centres, in which the detainees are committed at the order of the Court and 3 correctional centres.

Kosovo also has a high-security prison in Gerdovc, in which prisoners in Kosovo are accommodated, who are with long sentences of over 15 years, as well as prisoners from other states who can return and serve the sentence in Kosovo with inter-ministerial agreements.