Shala: Disillusionment of No Prisoner by President

Shala says that the condition of the prisoners has become very heavy, causing them both health problems and violation of their basic rights, all as a result of pandemic.

When talking about the situation in Kosovo prisons, we should remember that almost a year we have a state of emergency, and if citizens who are not in prisons face many problems because of pandemic, then this situation is much more reflected within prisons, because they are also deprived of freedom. While the pandemic has caused many problems, for those who have been weekend users have not been able to go home, then family visits or free visits have been banned for a while and then they've been released a little, but that's insufficient, and they've suffered a lot because they haven't been sent to get proper treatment. The prisoners were violated by human rights”, Shala said.

And we have to remember that psychology is changing because we have different circumstances here, and it affects the prison. We have even had cases when prisoners committed suicide, their numbers are not large compared to the outside but have left a huge impact on prisoners”, he said.

Shala considers it a great disappointment not to forgive any prisoner on the part of the President.

The prisoners must be compensated for some who were banned during the pandemic, referring here to the exploitation of weekends, other rights and that was not taken by courts or by those who make decisions, where we have asked for the release of some prisoners who have not posed a threat to security, and to us there is no release at all, the President of SOCH has forgiven no prisoners, and courts which are amazingly able to release prisoners who have been released from 25 cases have not released any frustrations, which is a disappointment for us, and he is able to say so far.

Likewise, legal adviser Anton Noecaj points out that the psychic portion is heavily burdened with prisoners, having been banned by many rights during the time of the pandemic.

Unfortunately, the pandemic has influenced not only those deprived of freedom but also citizens. When we talk about this particular category, then, of course, the pandemic itself has forced the institution to force certain rights that have been deprived of freedom to fail. For example, family visits that are reduced or completely out of place, and of course that affects the psychic part of the punishment of persons in various prisons, and then the rest have to do with another category that is in custody. The main problem lies in the proficiency and rights guaranteed by prisoners”, Noceaj said.

Noecaj says that stopping contact with family members has been a problem, including those imprisoned who continue their studies and problems in this regard. This is the whole problem here, because depending on whether a prisoner suffers the sentence depending on the work, then that person is allowed to contact his family and his wife, and these types of contacts I don't know have happened. But before pandemic, it was different. That's a risk they have to enjoy, and then the rest is when prisoners from prison continue their studies, and they have to undergo exams and be physically or online, and I consider that for inmates who have banned phones then prisons should provide these conditions”, Noecaj concluded.