Ukrainian, Finnish, Dutch prison service delegations visiting Estonian prisons

TALLINN - The Estonian prison service will host a delegation of the Ukrainian prison service led by the head of the prison service, Serhii Hrechaniuk, as part of a cooperation agreement in all prisons from Monday until Aug. 30, while in the first half of the week, Dutch colleagues from the Ministry of Justice and prisons will join the visits to Viru and Tartu prisons.

An eight-member delegation from Ukraine will visit all prisons, the probation supervision office as well as the Prison Service College during a week-long visit to learn about the principles and best practices of how the system works.

Within the framework of the cooperation memorandum concluded in May, the prison service can, based on its experience, help Ukrainian colleagues to adapt and develop their own prison system as an EU candidate country. Estonia is a good direction indicator for Ukraine, being the only country that became independent after the occupation to have managed to leave behind camp-type prisons and the proliferation of subcultures in its prison system and can now actively work on changing people's behavior, as a result of which the level of crime in the country also decreases. Estonia's interest is to gain experience in ensuring operational continuity and the tasks of prisons in wartime.

At the same time, the prison service is moving forward with the development of the study program. As early as Sept. 4, 10 prison officials will arrive in Estonia from Ukraine as part of a study program, who will acquire practical knowledge and experience in Estonia to share it all when they return to their homeland after Oct. 2.

On Aug. 30, colleagues from the Finnish Prison and Probation Service (RISE) will visit the West-Harju probation supervision department. At the meeting, the prison service will introduce the possibilities of the electronic monitoring system in use in Estonia, as well as GPS and home security devices. Experiences from the equipment procurement and testing process will also be shared.