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Suicides Show Up Macedonia's Grim Jails

22 02 2006  Officials blame rising prison deaths on overcrowding, but experts says the malaise is more serious.

By Miomir Serafinovic in Skopje (Balkan Insight, 22 Feb 06)

The double suicide of Gagarin Zendelovic and Orhan Neziri this month in Macedonia's Shutka prison has triggered alarm over conditions at the facility, as well as in the country's largest penitentiary, Idrizovo.

Officials say increased mortality rates at the two institutions, both near Skopje, are the result of overcrowding.

But penal experts say overcrowding is not the only problem. They are concerned also by staff corruption, drug addiction and violence in the cells.

The ministry of justice has confirmed that there were four suicides in Macedonian jails in 2005, as well as one murder and the death of a drug addict in solitary confinement.

In 2004 there were three suicides in Macedonian prisons, and in 2003 only one.

Sashko Todorovski, of the Helsinki Committee in Macedonia, in charge of the Prison Monitoring Programme, blames the deaths on bad conditions. He also believes the actual number of deaths in jail is higher than the official figures suggest.

"The prison authorities do not register those cases when prisoners are discharged because of their serious health problems and do not relate such deaths to their conditions in jail," Todorovski said.

He recalled the case of 35-year-old Abdula Nevzat, who died in the City Hospital in Skopje shortly after his release from jail this year.

Nevzat's prison term was interrupted on February 2 owing to his deteriorating health and he was sent to hospital.

"He did not die in prison, though he was there for six months," Todorovski said, which means he would be included in the statistics about jail deaths.

Kostadinco Efremov, director of the Sanction Enforcement Authority, which is in change of Macedonia's penitentiaries, said the media-driven hue and cry over jail conditions was unfounded, however.

"The media and the human rights organisations see only the worst and publish only the most horrible information," he said.

Marina Govorko Sazdovska, spokesperson of the Sanction Enforcement Authority, said the jail at Idrizovo, which is 60 years old and the country's largest, held far too many prisoners for its capacity.

"The prison's capacity is around 850 prisoners and at this moment more than 1,300 are confined,? Govorko said.

"The situation is the same in the investigation prison in Shutka. It has a capacity of 250, but there are 358 prisoners," he added.

The authorities say the solution lies in the opening of a new jail. Under a new law, a new prison should be built this year in Kumanovo, 40 kilometres from Skopje.

Kostadinco Efremov, director of the Prison Authority, said, "We do not hide that Idrizovo is jammed and we are making efforts to overcome the problems by renovating some parts, but we should not make a drama of it."

But Todorovski dismisses official promises to seriously improve jails. "The prisoners live in bad, substandard conditions, without sufficient medical care or special treatment for drug addicts and psychiatric cases," he said.

Todorovski points to the recent suicides in Shutka of Zendelovic and Neziri, who were confined in the same cell without supervision, even though both men had previously attempted suicide.

While officials talk of overcrowding being the main problem, prisoners told Balkan Insight about the corruption that exists in Macedonian prisons.

A prisoner from Skopje in Idrizovo said the staff allowed illegal substances to be taken in and trafficked.

"If you have money in prison you can take everything in, from cell phones to drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, and trade them inside," he said.

"You just need to pay a guard or superintendent who will carry in everything you need for 30 euro, or pretend not to see while you are bringing something in," he added.

This prisoner also had a cell phone, despite the fact that for prisoners in the maximum-security department, this is an offence punishable with a period in solitary confinement.

Todorovski said it was easy to take drugs in and out of jail under the noses of the corrupt, negligent staff.

"Prisoners say heroin is cheaper in Idrizovo than on the streets, simply because the supply is huge,? he said.

The authorities say such stories are exaggerated and that their searches reveal only small quantities of narcotics.

In 2005, only one officer was caught accepting a bribe of 50 euro in order to transfer a prisoner from one department to another, according to the official website of the interior ministry.

However, prisoners told Balkan Insight that not only were drugs widespread in prisons, but that gangs fought over the trade in narcotics, alcohol and cigarettes.

Official estimates suggest that there are 150 addicts in Idrizovo alone who have applied for treatment in the prison?s specialist drugs rehabilitation department. But some believe the hidden number of unregistered cases is much higher.

Prisoners also complain of poor hygiene, lack of food, and lack of transparency in the awarding of free weekends, visits and absences.

Two months ago, anger reached such a pitch in Idrizovo that seven prisoners climbed out onto the roof, refusing to come down until their request for weekend release was met.

The prisoners complain that prison rules apply only to those that have no money to bribe the guards. "You get privilege if you can pay for it," one prisoner told Balkan Insight.

Miomir Serafinovic is a Balkan Insight contributor. Balkan Insight is BIRN's internet publication.