following: lately determined total punishment; amended amount of the punishment
imposed; lately received judgement and lately received notification of punishment.
As ombudsman, acting the NPM, I must point out that these cases of illegal
detention, repeated systematically over the years, are extremely worrying in
terms of respect for human rights. Possible decision in this direction would be to
organise a broad forum with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of
Justice, CDEP, the prison administration, the judicial system, in order to discuss the
problems that institutions face in their mutual activity and communication.
In 2013 565 PDL were awarded. For the same year were registered 1883 memos
for violations established, searches committed, etc. 508 PDL were punished. Thirty-two
disciplinary orders under art. 101, pt. 7 and 8 of LESD have been appealed against
pursuant to Art. 111, para 1 of LESD before the District Court - Burgas. 21 of them have
been confirmed, 9 have been cancelled and 3 have been amended. There were no orders
appealed before CDEP. 8 PDL were isolated in constantly locked premises with
enhanced surveillance and security pursuant to Art. 248, para 1 pt. 1 of LESD. There
were no isolated on the basis of Art. 120 of LESD.
During the inspection in 2014 it was found that the number of the disciplinary
sanctions imposed in the prison for the period 1st January 2014 - 27th May 2014, was
195.
In 2013 the Committee under Art. 73 held six meetings. 36 proposals have been
made to the District Court - Burgas for release on parole of PDL, and all of them have
been favoured. By decision of the Committee has been changed the regime of 221 PDL
into lighter, and of 13 PDL - into heavier. During the year in the PDOT was
accommodated a total of 158 PDL. At the proposal of the Committee under Art. 73 by
order of the Burgas District Court the regime of 1 PDL was changed to a more heavier
than originally specified.
During the inspection in the prison in the city of Burgas in 2014 Minutes No 1 /
12.02.2014, and Minutes No 2 / 15.04.2014 of the meetings of the Committee under Art.
73 of LESD were required. As seen from them, in this prison as well the number of
favourable opinions for release on parole / conditional release and replacement of the
regime or transfer into a place with lighter regime is minimal. At the first meeting held
for release on parole / conditional release cases of 271 PDL have been considered, out of
which a favourable opinion has been granted to only 4 PDL. 502 PDL have acquired a
formal right to replacement of the regime in the next lighter, 55 PDL out of them were
with favourable opinion, and 61 PDL acquired the right to transfer in PDOT from which
a favourable opinion was granted to 35 PDL. These ratios are maintained also at the
second meeting held for the current calendar year.
During the inspection in 2014 were conducted nine interviews with PDL. In their
complaints, they focused primarily on the following: provision of sanitary materials and
supplies; lack of a sufficient number of courses and the quality of social work in prison;
denials of release on parole / conditional release; assortment and prices in the canteen.
Prison - Stara Zagora
There is a vocational school "Pop Mincho Kanchev" on the territory of the prison
which provides training in the specialities "operator in furniture production" and
"assembly worker of water supply installations". The school educates an average of 500
PDL annually. The team of the National Preventive Mechanism assessed as extremely
excellent the state of the facilities in the school. Representatives of the Ministry of
Education, together with the management of the prison - Stara Zagora, do their best for
their maintenance and storage.
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