Some detainees at the Remand Prison in the Directorate for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions (UIKS) in Spuž have again announced a hunger strike due to prison overcrowding.
The detainees, represented by lawyer Nikola Tomković, who submitted a letter to the media, said that the agreements that were reached after the announcement of a general strike several months ago, led by the President of the Higher Court in Podgorica, Zoran Radović, with representatives of the Ministry of Justice present, have not been implemented.
They emphasized that the situation is even more difficult and worse than before.
"Due to prison overcrowding, the walks, which are legally required to be twice a day for one hour, now last twice for 30 minutes during the day," the letter reads.
It is stated that in the autumn and winter periods, the space intended for walking and spending time in the fresh air cannot be used due to the age of the prison building and the non-functionality of the storm sewer opening, which causes faecal spills and flooding.
"Due to overcrowding, families of detainees wait three to four hours to visit in temperatures of plus 40 degrees. Children's visits are conducted in a 20 square meter room for 30 minutes, and four families stay at the same time," the detainees stated.
As they said, in these conditions there is no privacy, no space to sit and talk to minor children who feel very uncomfortable due to these inhumane conditions.
Detainees pointed out that due to the large number of detainees and their separation to prevent conflicts, lawyers sometimes wait two to three hours to talk to a client, and sometimes, due to excessive crowds, they give up and do not visit the client.
"The health service does not have the medicines prescribed for detainees, but families have to buy them from their own funds, and if detainees and their families do not have the financial means, detainees are left to fend for themselves," the letter states.
They said that inmates sometimes sleep on the floor in the rooms due to overcrowding, and as for inventory and equipment, if you are not financially able to provide or purchase them, only a bed remains in the room.
"Also, due to the severe overcrowding and capacity of the kitchen, there has been no possibility of preparing fasting food during the fasting period lately; instead, they are offered canned fish and nothing more," the detainees said.
The letter also emphasized that the canteen does not have the capacity to hold groceries for all detainees, so that when groceries are distributed, many detainees are left without half of the ordered items, and the fruit and vegetables that arrive are noticeably lower quality. The detainees stated that they see the courts, which order detention and do not let people defend themselves from freedom, as the main culprits for this situation, as well as the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for the Spuž prison.
They appealed to the Bar Association to support their demands, and in mid-September, detainees and lawyers to join in a general strike.
It was explained that the strike would apply if neither the detainees nor their lawyers showed up for hearings.
The detainees stated that there is clearly a lack of respect for human rights and a violation of the Constitution of Montenegro, as well as a violation of rights under the European Court of Human Rights.
"We believe that this is a case of arbitrariness by individuals at the top of the judiciary connected to the former regime and with the political support of the new government, which is anything but democratic," the detainees' statement reads.
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