Strike threat at Riihimäki prison - inmates protest against cramped conditions

Strict warden refuses to negotiate with prisoners

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The problem of overcrowding has reached breaking point in the Riihimäki prison. A list of demands and a strike threat have been sign by 160 of the 215 inmates.
      According to the prisoners, security in the facility is compromised when anti-social and quarrelsome inmates are placed in shared accommodation.
     
The Riihimäki prison warden Anna-Katrina Grönholm shares the inmates' view on lack of space.
      "Overcrowding is a real issue here, but our situation is still fairly good compared with some other prisons in the country", Grönholm says.
      Grönholm nevertheless states firmly that she is not prepared to negotiate with the inmates. "The prisoners are not employed by the state. They simply have an obligation to participate."
     
A quick interview among the prisoners reveals that most of them are willing to go on strike for the sake of solidarity, but few of them believe anything will be achieved by doing so.
      Also, the strike is not anticipated to last for very long.
      "I suspect it'll end when the guys run out of cigarettes", reckons one of the inmates.
      "Besides, it is good to be doing something. Doing nothing here messes with your brain."
      Deputy warden Juhani Rimpinen remembers well another strike in the Riihimäki prison two years ago. "Everyone took part in it, but when the inmates ran out of money they returned back to their work, courses, and therapies."
     
The prisoners' communiqué also addresses the use of the so-called camera cells where inmates returning from holiday are placed if they are suspected of trying to smuggle in drugs.
      In the course of last year, five of the 45 inmates who were placed in camera cells were discovered having hidden drugs in their bodies.
      The prisoners also complain about the division of the institute into separate blocks. In conjunction with renovations, all Finnish prisons will be divided into separate units where inmates with similar case histories can be placed.
      The prisoners themselves would prefer to mingle with a larger crowd, for example when outdoors.
      The removing of heavy weights from the prison gym also puzzles the inmates, especially those who are into powerlifting.
      "We invest in keeping fit, not in powerlifting", Grönholm replies.
      Last year hundreds of growth hormone pills and steroids were also confiscated from the powerlifters.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Bodybuilding programmes and hormones cause concern in Finnish prisons (23.1.2004)

Links:
  The Prison Service

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