Skopje, 31 August 2024 (MIA) – Comparing prisons, there are huge differences. There are Latin American-style prisons in which only a mentally strong person could survive, Aleksandar Pandov, head of Directorate for the Execution of Sanctions, said Saturday.

Speaking to reporters in Shtip, Pandov, who after taking office has completed a tour of all Macedonian prisons, stated that some prisons functioned ‘normally’, while others were like ‘private prisons.’

“And, unfortunately, the brothers from April 27 [Parliament storming] had served detention in the Shutka jail for two years. There are prisons resembling the European prisons, functioning normally. But what I have found out is that the managers of some prisons have acted in the style of Louis 14, as if though the prisons were their own and they treated the prisoners as such,” Pandov said. 

There were inmates, he added, who were registered as being in the prison cells, when in fact they were outside. “But there are also inmates who have experienced the worst,” Pandov said stressing that this is going to change. 

Asked how many inmates have escaped over the years, he said that a few had done classic prison break. “However, some 130 inmates are considered as fugitives after being released for the weekends, which is according to the law, but haven’t returned to continue to serve their sentence,” Pandov said. 

Asked about the latest extension of the temporary releases of the Parliament storming convicts, Pandov said that as director of the Directorate for the Execution of Sanctions he can approve a 30-day temporary release in case convicts present medical records proving that they need urgent treatment.

Further extensions are approved by the courts, according to him. 

Former interior ninister Mitko Chavkov, sentenced to 18 years in prison for the 27 April 2017 Parliament storming, has had his temporary release extended to November 21. Also, six people were given a temporary release due to medical reasons.

Photo: MIA