B92 investigates conditions in Serbian jails

B92 investigates conditions in Serbian jails

Convicts who have committed repeated felonies, constitute for two thirds of all inmates. B92 investigates whether prisons serve their genuine role of corrective institutions, or that of the training ground for criminal expertise.

The most powerful villains grow to be role models for other inmates, as crime, violence and corruption have become customary within jail communities.

Such surroundings benefit those who are able to attain various privileges with the money they own.

Strong political influence is sometimes more valuable than money. Two years ago former state television director Dragoljub Milanović was transferred from Zabela Prison’s section VII, notoriously dubbed “prison within prison”, to work in a jail hospital.

Milanović received improved accommodation before he served two thirds of his jail term, the timeframe which the law set as a minimal precondition for any revision of an inmate’s prison status.

Besides these, the program, scheduled to air at 10:00 p.m. CET, investigates the subjects of violence and the recent prison riots.