More than 300 inmates walked out of prisons across the Czech Republic on New Year’s Day, the immediate result of legislative changes that decriminalized or reclassified specific non-violent offenses.
The Prison Service confirmed that 309 individuals were released from 31 facilities on Wednesday. The mass departure was triggered by an amendment to the criminal code which alters the legal standards for the neglect of mandatory alimony payments and adjusts sentencing guidelines for certain drug-related crimes.
The scale of the release varied significantly depending on the facility. The women’s prison in Světlá nad Sázavou saw the largest group depart, with 36 inmates cleared for release. In contrast, maximum-security prisons like Mírov and Valdice discharged only a single inmate each.
Despite the logistical challenges of processing hundreds of releases simultaneously on a public holiday, officials reported no incidents.
Major General Tomáš Hůlka, Director General of the Prison Service, commended the staff for managing the administrative burden without disrupting facility operations. “Thanks to the commitment and cooperation of everyone involved, we were able to proceed quickly and in full compliance with the law,” Hůlka said.
The operation required real-time coordination between prison officials and the courts to ensure release orders were processed correctly. Justice Minister Jeroným Tejc monitored the situation from the Prison Service headquarters before visiting the Pankrác remand prison in Prague, which also saw a number of inmates released.
Tejc acknowledged the complexity of the operation, noting that coordination between the various institutions functioned well. “The release of more than three hundred convicts was well organized,” Tejc said. “Everything went without major difficulties.”
The newly freed individuals have now re-entered society, leaving the state to turn its focus toward the application of the new sentencing guidelines in pending court cases.
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