Prison service finds nine violations during home leave checks

Lithuania’s Prison Service found nine violations during unscheduled checks of 118 convicted prisoners allowed to make short-term trips home, LRT reported Monday.

The checks, carried out on July 25, found five prisoners intoxicated by alcohol or other psychoactive substances. They were immediately returned to the places where they were serving their sentences.

Four other prisoners were not found at the address where they were required to stay under the conditions of their temporary leave.

Three violations each were recorded in the Vilnius and Kaunas regions, while one each was found in the Alytus, Šiauliai and Marijampolė regions.

Disciplinary measures were imposed on all nine prisoners. Two were placed in isolation for seven days, and one for 30 days. The other six were ordered to make payments of 50 euros each to the Social Support Fund for Convicts.

The Prison Service said permission to make short-term trips home is granted after assessing a prisoner’s conduct, progress while serving a sentence and other criteria. Prisoners on temporary leave must comply with set conditions, and violations carry legal consequences.

The right to take such trips is available to prisoners in the light group at semi-open-type facilities where sentences are served, with certain exceptions.