In 2023, the number of inmates in Estonia dropped below 2,000 for the first time and has been decreasing by about one hundred people each year. Meanwhile, the Swedish government aims to impose tougher and longer sentences, making it unlikely that the number of prisoners there will decline in the near future.
A draft agreement prepared by the Ministry of Justice for leasing prison space to Sweden aims to reduce the cost burden of underutilized Estonian prison facilities — or even to generate revenue from them. According to the draft, up to 600 inmates would be transferred from Sweden to Estonia.
For Swedish offenders, the Estonian state plans to use the S-Wing of Tartu Prison, which has approximately 350 places across 175 cells, followed by the E-Wing, which has 631 places in 318 cells.
“The entire Tartu Prison would be leased out, except for the open prison, the detention house and the psychiatric care units. This ensures that Estonian and foreign inmates will not come into contact with one another,” the explanatory note to the draft states.
Swedish prisoners would be transferred under an international agreement, meaning that their sentences would be carried out under Estonian law and enforced exclusively by Estonian officials. Foreign officials would have only an advisory or quality control role.
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