Szombathely National Prison has been expanded with some 700 new places as part of a HUF 500 million (EUR 1.6m) development project. The new units were officially opened by Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér, Director-General of the National Headquarters of the Hungarian Prison Service András Csóti, and Minister of Defence Csaba Hende.
The new units have been established in one of the institution’s previously unused buildings and provide 396 new places for inmates, while the capacity of the existing buildings has also been expanded by some 280 places.
Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér said: the Government is committed to reducing overcrowding in prisons and this is why they have decided on the construction of ten new correctional facilities.
The Minister of Interior highlighted: the aim is to make Hungary one of the safest countries in Europe. Tightening criminal laws within the field of legislation and making the work of the prosecutor’s office and the police more effective have also both served this goal, as a result of which the number of people detained in correctional facilities increased to 18 thousand by 2014, he pointed out.
Mr. Pintér also said that people working in prisons have an increased workload based on outdated legislation and work in a stale environment, and accordingly the refurbishment and modernisation of prisons is also aimed at improving working conditions.
Sándor Pintér pointed out that in future pedagogic methods, and the education and employment of inmates must receive heightened attention since the aim is to help those imprisoned return to society.
We still do not want to give up on the employment of prisoners; every healthy and fit person should work, he said, adding that as a result of employing prison inmates the burden on society will be reduced and it could also contribute to helping former inmates provide for themselves and their families through work in later life, the Minister continued.
Speaking about the Szombathely correctional facility’s expansion, Mr. Pintér explained that prison infrastructure has been fully renewed thanks to the investment, which was implemented in a cost-efficient manner and in line with modern and European requirements, and the facility now ensures a suitable environment for the performance of lawful and professional work.
He added that the creation of the new places significantly decreases the level of overcrowding in correctional facilities country-wide – reducing figures to under 130% from the previous average of 140% – and that since Szombathely prison will now also be capable of housing female prisoners, overcrowding in the women’s prison in Kalocsa will be significantly reduced.
Minister of Defence Csaba Hende said that recent years are testament to the fact that it was a correct and rational decision to relocate the prison from the centre of Szombathely to the former barracks of the Hungarian Defence Forces, since the institute has remained practically unnoticed at its new location, in addition to creating a number of new workplaces.
Director-General of the Szombathely Prison Service Tamás Tóth said that the expansion and modernisation have been realised according to European prison standards: rooms for six people and cells accommodating 5 people, each with separate toilets and showers, have been established on five storeys over an area of 6100 square metres in the renovated building, thanks to which the institution now houses prisoners in two, three and five-person cells.
40 prisoners were also involved in the construction of the building, working a total of 24,161 hours. Thanks to the expansion, Szombathely National Prison is now the largest correctional facility in Hungary.
(MTI)
