A New Year's jail break, sort of

Jan 13, 2000
By J. Michael Lyons

The prison, located on the outskirts of Riga, routinely released 128
prisoners for the holidays. Twenty five were missing Jan. 2.

Fifteen, prison officials said, soon returned and had valid excuses
for their being late. A bad hangover, officials said, did not count.

Four more returned earlier this week, telling prison officials they
didn't have any money to call and say they would be late.

A manhunt is on for the six still missing.

"Society can be assured that these prisoners pose no threat,"said
Vitolds Zahars, Latvia's prisons director. "They are not dangerous."

Vecumnieki is an "open"institution, a form of prison popular
throughout Europe that allows prisoners to come and go with a set of
restrictions. Some even live in flats or homes with their families in
a specially designated prison district.

Changes to Latvian law this year forbid any convict to go to an open
prison to serve more than a two-year sentence, a move that
accompanied the court system's new policy of taking a convict's
criminal record into account during sentencing.

Consequently, most prisoners at Vecumnieki are petty thieves or
small-time white collar criminals, Zahars said.

Most inmates live in dormitory-style housing on the prison grounds.
There are no fences, but there are guards, and prisoners can't leave
without permission.

If a prisoner goes 30 days without a disciplinary problem he can
leave once a month for a two-day furlough.

The holiday leave was supposed to be five days.

Earlier this week, prison officials stepped up the pursuit of the
missing six by issuing warnings.

The warning: Come back, or there might be criminal charges filed
against you or, if it's not too much trouble, please call and tell us
where you are.

SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:   Delicious   Digg   Reddit   Ask   Facebook   MrWong   Netvouz