ZAGREB, 16 Oct, 2021 -The Croatian authorities are preparing new capacities in the penitentiary system, so that it will be able to cater for an additional 230 inmates, the Jutarnji List (JL) daily reported on Saturday.

The decision to expand the capacities was triggered off by more and more frequent cases of the state paying compensation to incarcerated people who did not have the minimum space requirements recommended by international standards.

The new rule book of the Justice Ministry on treatment of detained persons envisages at least 3-4 square metres per detainee.

For instance, inmates will have to be provided with the possibility of in-cell televisions.

The newspaper reported that in November 2020, the Osijek penitentiary's shower facilities and 22 cells were updated. In Bjelovar, the capacities were expanded to have nine more beds. In Požega, a new unit with 50 beds was set up.

Currently, the works are being conducted on preparing the space with 120 more beds in the Požega prison, while preparations are under way for adapting the Lipovica-Popovača jail building to care for 110 inmates.

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