Baltic state Estonia considers housing foreign prisoners

Estonia’s Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta has instructed the BBC her nation is contemplating whether or not to accommodate overseas prisoners in one among its jails.

She mentioned she mentioned prisons with UK Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood at an AI summit in Vilnius on Thursday.

However she mentioned there have been no “agreements or something like that” with the Labour authorities.

The UK is coping with an overcrowding disaster in prisons, with the inhabitants in England and Wales at a report excessive.

With few areas left in cells, the federal government will launch about 3,000 prisoners from jails subsequent week, underneath a short lived scheme.

It will come after a report within the Telegraph mentioned criminals might serve their sentences in Estonian prisons underneath plans being thought-about by ministers.

Chatting with the BBC, Ms Pakosta careworn there had been no “political choice” on what to do with Tartu jail, which was nearly empty due to the low degree of crime within the nation.

She mentioned the UK – underneath the earlier Conservative authorities – was one among a number of European international locations that had expressed curiosity in sending some prisoners to Estonia.

Ms Pakosta mentioned British officers had visited Tartu jail for an inspection underneath the earlier UK authorities.

The BBC has been instructed each former Conservative and present Labour ministers independently got here to the view that the scheme could be costly.

Earlier, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson mentioned: “Estonia was the coverage of the previous authorities.

“The present authorities is making no such plans or bulletins in relation to Estonian jail locations.”

The minister mentioned she had “an excellent assembly” with Ms Mahmood, as they gathered within the Lithuanian capital to signal the primary worldwide treaty on synthetic intelligence.

“However we have been discussing extra the overall understanding of jail coverage in each international locations and what we are able to do to boost the sense of safety in our communities,” Ms Pakosta mentioned.

She added: “So I defined what we’re doing in Estonia and I received a normal overview of the scenario in Nice Britain.

“However I’ve to underline we didn’t discuss of any agreements or something like that, as a result of as I mentioned, we don’t have a political choice in Estonia but.”

Estonia’s ruling get together selected Kristen Michal to switch former chief Kaja Kallas because the Baltic state’s new prime minister in July. They’re from the identical Reform Get together, which received an amazing victory in a normal election in 2023.

Ms Pakosta mentioned it price about €3,000 (about £2,500) monthly to accommodate an Estonian prisoner, beneath the EU common.

The common annual general price of a jail place in England and Wales is £46,696, in line with the Jail Reform Belief.

Estonia’s authorities estimates it might earn as a lot as €30m (£25m) a yr from renting out spare jail capability, because the nation seeks to spice up its public funds.

When requested if internet hosting overseas prisoners might harm Estonia’s worldwide popularity, Ms Pakosta mentioned: “After all it isn’t the perfect subject to advertise Estonia.

“However I might guarantee that coming as a vacationer to Estonia, coming to a rustic with such a low criminality charge, is an excellent choice.

“It’s so secure we even have so many empty jail locations. Half of the jail locations are empty in Estonia. So all people is welcome to come back right here.”