Prisoners forced to wear retention overalls seek damages
Trial begins in Riihimäki
Four prisoners who were kept in retention overalls for days at a time are seeking damages for degrading treatment. While wearing the enclosed garment, the inmates at Riihimäki Prison were not allowed to use the toilet unsupervised, shower, or exercise normally. The purpose of the practice is to prevent the smuggling of drugs by inmates returning from furlough.
The prisoners were forced to wear the overalls, and were kept in solitary confinement for days after returning from the outside world.
The prison’s former warden, Jaakko Kopra, and two other prison officials were charged with violating their official duties.
The plaintiffs say that the officials had failed to respect the human dignity of the prisoners, whom they suspected of smuggling in packages of drugs, which they had either swallowed, or inserted anally.
Four young men, one of whom is still serving time, told the court of their experiences. They are asking for damages varying between EUR 3,000 and 3,500.
The men said that they were not allowed to wear underwear beneath the overalls, and that the guards urged them to take castor oil to induce defecation.
The purpose of the retention overalls is to prevent the prisoners from destroying or hiding drugs that they might have carried internally. Prisoners kept in the “s**t cell” were allowed to use the toilet only under supervision, so that everything that came out could be examined.
The inmates were kept in the overall in isolation until it could be assumed that the intestines had been voided and any contraband would have come out. One of the inmates, who had been under investigation for four days, said that nothing seemed to be enough for the personnel, when he was sent to the cold isolation cell after coming back from furlough.
“They wanted me to crank out more and more s**t all the time”, he said.
Nothing was found.
Another large-sized prisoner said that the overall was so small that he was unable to stand upright while wearing it. He said that several guards had mocked him while he sat on the toilet.
A third inmate said that he soiled himself a few times because the guard did not take him to the toilet quickly enough. After that he had to put the same overall on again.
No drugs were ever found, and a number of the prisoners pointed out that they had not been convicted of any drug-related offences when they were sent to the cell for observation.
Prosecutor Eeva-Liisa Olkinuora says that legal means would have been available to check on possible in-body smuggling, including x-ray examinations.
The prison officials deny that they did anything illegal, or that they had violated any rules. They say that they had cleared the procedure with the Criminal Sanctions Agency, and that there were valid reasons for taking the action in each case.
They also said that the method was effective, noting that drugs in prison cause many kinds of difficulties for the inmates and their families.
Numerous inmates have been pressured to smuggle drugs while returning from furlough.
A verdict is expected in the case within a couple of weeks.
(Helsingin Sanomat)