No one expects this to be a hotel, but can't martyrs like us have the right to some conditions? Families wait for three or four hours, children's visits take place in a room where other prisoners or detainees have regular visits and are surrounded by bars... The prison is overcrowded, the conditions are humiliating...
This, among other things, is written in the detainees' letter, which explains on eight written pages why they are on strike.
They state that the conditions, the fact that they don't have the walks that were planned, but are half as short, are not their main problem:
"We are seeking normal conditions that belong to every person... However, that is not our main problem, but the relationship between the court and the prosecution. Many people have been imprisoned based on Sky correspondence, for which in the last two months, from multiple addresses, confirmation has come that they cannot be evidence. All this comes from serious addresses, from countries with regulated systems, such as Switzerland, France, Luxembourg. We are being detained, no one turns around and hears our cries. Do you think you can be happy when they release you after three and a half years?" the letter reads.
129 detainees in the Pretrial Detention Center are expressing certain disagreements with their accommodation conditions and court proceedings, and of that number, 107 are on hunger strike. Their current health condition is stable, the Directorate for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions said yesterday.
The detainees explain that the strike is not blackmail, but "the cry of martyrs who are on strike and want Montenegrin law to be respected"...
"The indictments filed by the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) are contrary to our law and Constitution. All this resembles the times of the Informbiro, when people were sent to Goli Otok because some neighbor there reported that there was talk against the Communist Party somewhere there"...
The letter adds that no one is turning to them, that it is getting worse and worse every day:
"The strike was announced two months ago and all relevant authorities were invited to a meeting - the Minister of Justice, the President of the Supreme Court and the President of the High Court. Only the President of the High Court responded, without giving any specific answers"...
Silence on the problems does not bring anything, the detainees are determined to persevere in the strike, so that the problems are finally resolved - which are accusations without evidence, long detentions and the non-use of electronic monitoring and house arrest measures, the detainees' letter states.
The detainees also claim that all their requests for the termination of detention or replacement with alternative measures are rejected according to the same pattern and with the same response - the threat of a higher sentence.
They also state that, if they are guilty, they should be convicted, but with respect for the Constitution and Montenegrin laws:
"No one is running away from responsibility, we just want justice and to be tried according to the law, to be given a chance for fair trials, so that we don't all have to wait three and a half years to get out of this dungeon... High-profile names accused of cigarette smuggling have been released on bail, while some anonymous people have been here for more than two years and have been denied bail multiple times... The courts respond that they are working according to case law, and their practice in most cases is a gross violation of the laws of Montenegro... This is a game without borders... The problem we are in is serious - people are losing their families, jobs and health... The strike is not an obstruction of the trial, the authorities have been summoned for two months, but we received the answer from them: 'We don't have electronic monitoring devices'... They are denying bail to almost everyone with the measure of house arrest, and the only measure is long-term detention in poor conditions - walks last two 30-minute sessions, instead of two one-hour sessions, and when it rains and the sewage overflows, there is no going out." walk. Medical care is below all standards... There are waits for examinations for several months, and sometimes no one even calls the detainee for the examination he requested... The number of detainees is twice as high as the capacities of the Remand Prison," the letter states...
They explain that they also asked for what almost all prisons have - the ability to talk to their families via Skype, but that they were not given that option either.
"However, the main problem is the court and the prosecution and their selective decisions. For the same charges, some people are granted bail, while most are denied...
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