fundamental and human rights �.� national preventive mechanism against torture the housing of remand prisoners. However, separating remand prisoners from other prisoners is a principle clearly prescribed by national legislation and international recommendations, which is based on the presumption of innocence. The Deputy-Ombudsman noted that the placement of remand prisoners had not been done according to the law, or even according to the prison’s own placement instructions or the unit division specified in the daily schedule. In the case of female remand prisoners, a further error had been committed in placing them in the same cells with convicted prisoners (4653/2018). Time spent outside the cell The Ombudsman’s decisions and international recommendations have for a long time been based on the premise that prisoners should be permitted to spend a reasonable amount of time, and no less than eight hours per day, outside their cells. During that time, they should be able to engage in meaningful and stimulating activities, such as work, rehabilitation, training and exercise. After the visit, the NPM asked the prison to provide a report on how many hours of activities the prisoners had attended in a certain week. The situation appeared to be quite good on weekdays, when the majority of prisoners spent more than eight hours per day out of their cells. In the weekends, however, the situation was clearly worse. In addition, the female prisoners’ extremely poor ability to function set limits on their placement in activities. The Deputy-Ombudsman noted that open units were difficult to achieve merely by increasing the amount of activities. The Deputy-Ombudsman did not see why cell doors could not be open also when there was no organised or supervised activity going on in the unit (4653/2018). Depending on the unit, the prisoners had the opportunity to spend from three to five hours out of their cells each day. In addition, the prisoners of two units were not permitted to visit the prison shop, but had to order the products they wanted (5563/2018). A default prisoner is a person serving a conversion sentence in lieu of an unpaid fine. A conversion sentence is passed for a person sentenced to a fine if efforts to collect the fine have been unsuccessful. The placement of default prisoners is subject to the same provisions as that of convicted prisoners, and they have equal rights to participate in activities. Not a single default prisoner had been placed in an activity, however. The unit was the most closed in the prison, and no activities had apparently been arranged for the prisoners (5563/2018). Smoking ban The Imprisonment Act permits smoking to be banned in the accommodation premises of prisoners. If smoking is prohibited in cells, prisoners must be provided with the opportunity to smoke in a designated space or in other ways. The Central Administration Unit of the Criminal Sanctions Agency decides on the prohibition of smoking in prisons. It also issues more detailed regulations on smoking arrangements. On 15 June 2018, the Central Administration Unit issued a regulation stipulating that prisoners were to be allowed to smoke for a minimum of three times a day at regular intervals, such as in the morning, afternoon and evening. Helsinki Prison is the first prison to ban smoking in its residential premises. The smoking ban entered into force on 1 August 2018. Regarding the smoking ban, the NPM focused on the prison’s practical smoking arrangements as well as the prisoners’ attitude toward it. The Ombudsman had received several complaints regarding the smoking ban, so the visit did not address the actual prohibition of smoking. The prisoners did not have many complaints about not being able to smoke in the residential quarters anymore. Instead, they criticised the decisions and practices related to the prohibition of smoking. Due to the limited amount of storage space in the units, the purchase of tobacco products had been limited to three packs of cigarettes per week by decision of the prison director. Neither were the prisoners allowed to roll their own cigarettes anymore, 87