HIGH SAFETY: There is room for 100 high security prisoners in Agder prison in Mandal.
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MANDAL (VG) In the new Agder prison, the inmates will do most themselves. Justice Minister Monica Mæland hopes the new prison will remove some of the prison queue.
– This is a very nice prison. It is a powerful boost for the Prison and Probation Service. They think in a completely different way. As an inmate, you should serve a sentence, but at the same time you will be rehabilitated back. That they have to take responsibility for purchasing, cooking, cleaning, running a shop and taking education, says Justice Minister Monica Mæland to VG.
She was shown around the new high security prison in Mandal after opening on Monday. The prison will house up to 100 male inmates. Another department at Froland will house 200 inmates.
The price tag for both prisons is about NOK 1.2 billion.
ALL NEW: This is how the cell in the new high-security prison looks. Photo: Naina Helén Jåma, VG
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Justice and Justice Minister Monica Mæland wants to make the use of saliva masks on prisoners legal:
Get your own PC
The Minister of Justice was promised a fortuitous prison, where inmates will have access to a custom-made PC in their rooms. On it, they can keep in touch with NAV, arrange dental and medical lessons, and keep track of what things they have.
– This has to become Norway’s best prison in prison care. If we can’t make it here, we haven’t done our job, says Mæland.
In addition, the prison offers training within several lines, a larger outdoor area where inmates can train. There is also a separate shop with self-scanner and a larger library. A separate visitation apartment with children’s play equipment will ensure that the inmates can have contact with their families.
OFFICIAL OPENED: Minister of Justice and Emergency Management Monica Maeland (H) proudly cut the cord to inaugurate the new prison.
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Will let prison officers use saliva masks on inmates
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The news of a new high-security prison in Agder comes after a few heavy months for the Prison Service. They had to shut down all the country’s prisons for infectious protection.
Now there are 1,320 people in prison queue. Mæland hopes that Agder prison will be able to remove some of the queue.
– Prison services have been particularly severely exposed in the corona situation. Infection protection considerations have had to be taken into account both inmates and employees. That means they haven’t had double rooms. There have been fewer inmates and they have not been able to visit. A number of steps have been taken very quickly. This has meant that the prison queues have increased dramatically. We must now work to reduce this. There is a lot of work to be done, she says.
Fear less physical contact
Maria Aasen-Svensrud (Ap) sits on the Judiciary Committee. She agrees with the Minister that the potential for rehabilitation is there with such a digital prison.
– But I really hope that this digitization project will not be a savings project where you digitize instead of having physical contact between people. We will monitor this closely in the future, ”she tells VG.
BIG: The new high security prison in Mandal will house up to 100 men. The prison extends over 11,500 square meters.
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Frank Tveiten Johansen heads Agder prison.
– We no longer have a prison for preventing contact between the inmates, as it is in the old prisons. We have digital aids for inmates and staff. They also have self-catering, which means inmates trade their food here and prepare all their food themselves, he tells VG.
– This could be the world’s best prison. We will look for, find and practice a balance between rehabilitation and control, he continues.
