After the opening and launch of operations at the new Liepāja prison, three prisons are expected to be closed — not only the current Liepāja prison, but also Jelgava prison and the Grīva branch of Daugavgrīva prison, Justice Ministry State Secretary Mihails Papsujevičs told journalists.
He revealed that the first inmates could be admitted to the new facility in March next year. Until then, prison staff must gain practical knowledge on working in the new environment.
The first to close will be the existing Liepāja prison. According to Papsujevičs, the Justice Ministry will initially assess whether the complex should be retained for other ministry needs. Later, the prison could be offered to the municipality, but if that does not work out, the old Liepāja prison may be auctioned off.
Jelgava prison is expected to close by the middle of next year, followed shortly after by the Grīva branch of Daugavgrīva prison.
The State Secretary also noted that
the new Liepāja prison was built exclusively for men.
Therefore, there are plans to relocate the women’s prison currently in Iļģuciems to Cēsis. However, he admitted that the necessary funding must first be secured to proceed.
Papsujevičs stated that there are currently no plans to build additional entirely new prison complexes. Instead, new buildings may be constructed within existing prisons to ensure compliance with human rights standards.
On Monday, the Justice Ministry officially received the new Liepāja prison complex from the contractor. The prison was completed ahead of schedule, saving 5.3 million euros, and was handed over for use on the 28th of August.
In October 2022, the government authorized the Justice Ministry to take on long-term state budget commitments for construction of the new prison, with a total funding cap of 175.6 million euros over four years.
Construction was carried out by “Citrus Solutions”
under a contract worth 125,874,569 euros (excluding VAT).
The new Liepāja prison will have capacity for 1,200 inmates and consist of six separate buildings. The total site area covers 305,116 square meters, with about 37,400 square meters of indoor space.
Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry is seeking ways to establish appropriate incarceration infrastructure for women to enable the implementation of new resocialization programs, since the new Liepāja facility will house only men.
The head of the Latvian Prison Administration (IeVP), Dmitrijs Kaļins, has disclosed that the option of building a new women’s prison block in Cēsis is being considered. The local municipality has indicated it has no objections to this plan.
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