Published on
07/06/2025 – 12:12 GMT+2
Estonia will rent area at Tartu Prison to Sweden and settle for as much as 600 inmates underneath a brand new settlement being negotiated between the 2 nations. The draft law has been despatched to the parliament.
Meanwhile, the Estonian Office of the Chancellor of Justice and the Internal Security Service emphasise the dangers that putting overseas prisoners in Tartu might deliver.
Amid the conceivable worsening scenario for the Estonian prisoners, the primary fear is that individuals with connections to extremism or global organised crime might arrive in Estonia.
The Internal Security Service has forwarded the suggestions to the federal government and hopes that it’s going to take them under consideration to the best extent conceivable.
Marta Tuul, spokesperson of the Internal Security Service commented on Estonian TV:
“The main concerns we see are that people with connections to extremism or international organised crime do not arrive in Estonia. We also see that foreign prisoners may begin to be visited by individuals with connections to extremism or international organised crime.”
Falling numbers in Estonia
In 2023, the collection of inmates in Estonia dropped beneath 2,000 for the primary time and has been reducing by way of about 100 other people each and every yr. Meanwhile, the Swedish govt objectives to impose harder and longer sentences, making it not going that the collection of prisoners there’ll decline within the close to long term.
Indrek-Ivar Määrit, Head of Inspection Department of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice instructed Estonian public TV:
“For us, there are three main concerns here: Firstly, the situation of Estonian prisoners must not worsen because foreign prisoners are coming. Secondly, these foreign prisoners themselves must be treated in accordance with Estonian law and international requirements. And thirdly, in the broadest sense, Estonia’s internal security should not be endangered, and we are not only mindful of the danger that these people themselves pose, but also the danger that may accompany this process.”
For Swedish offenders, the Estonian state plans to make use of the S-Wing of Tartu Prison, which has roughly 350 puts throughout 175 cells, adopted by way of the E-Wing, which has 631 puts in 318 cells.
Rait Kuuse, Secretary General for Prisons on the Ministry of Justice additional elaborated at the plams:
“We prefer not to accept prisoners who are women or children. These would be male prisoners, either people convicted of crimes against the person or convicted of drug crimes, who do not have signs of being part of a network and who should not pose a significant threat to Estonia as a whole.”
Through the settlement, Estonia hopes to generate no less than €30 million in more earnings.
