Prisoners fight for baking rights
Prisoners in Karlskrona have lodged a complaint to the Justice Ombudsman after the unexpected and hasty cancellation of a bun-baking session in the prison kitchens. Staff at the prison have defended the decision on security grounds.
Following a number of recent disturbances, prison leaders arrived at the conclusion that it was too risky to let the inmates into the kitchens at the weekend. Drugs, threats and cases of assault are all said to have been on the rise at the penal institution in southern Sweden, newspaper Sydöstran reports.
"Under the current circumstances, the institution cannot meet the necessary level of internee supervision and control. We must therefore reject your application on security grounds.
"In other words, we do not have enough resources to allocate staff to supervise baking or cooking," wrote the management.
But the prisoners counter that "this talk of threats and the widespread availability of narcotics is just idle speculation".
The internees further point out that they often bake buns on weekdays without supervision. In its letter to the Justice Ombudsman, the Prisoners' Council characterized the management's decision as a form of collective punishment.
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Following a number of recent disturbances, prison leaders arrived at the conclusion that it was too risky to let the inmates into the kitchens at the weekend. Drugs, threats and cases of assault are all said to have been on the rise at the penal institution in southern Sweden, newspaper Sydöstran reports.
"Under the current circumstances, the institution cannot meet the necessary level of internee supervision and control. We must therefore reject your application on security grounds.
"In other words, we do not have enough resources to allocate staff to supervise baking or cooking," wrote the management.
But the prisoners counter that "this talk of threats and the widespread availability of narcotics is just idle speculation".
The internees further point out that they often bake buns on weekdays without supervision. In its letter to the Justice Ombudsman, the Prisoners' Council characterized the management's decision as a form of collective punishment.
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