Russia, Georgia Top the CoE list for High Incarceration Rate
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, April 4
Russia and Georgia have a higher incarceration rate in Europe the Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics for 2018 (SPACE) reads.
The total number of inmates in Georgia is 9,407, including those ones in pre-trial detention.
The report says that between 2008 and 2018 the prison population in Georgia has decreased by 43 percent. However, the rate still remains high.
The statistics of 2008 shows 445 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants in Georgia, while the figure was 252 per 100,000 in 2018.
The report says that the decrease in prison population began from 2013 [under the Georgian Dream leadership], with 219 inmates per 100,000 that year, while the figure in 2012, under the United National Movement leadership was 512.
“Countries with particularly high incarceration rates continued to be Russia (418.3 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants), Georgia (252.2), Azerbaijan (235), Lithuania (234.9), Republic of Moldova (215.2), Czech Republic (208.8), Latvia (194.6), Poland (194.4) and Estonia (191.4),” reads the survey.
The lowest incarceration rates were found in Iceland (46.8), Finland (51.1), Netherlands (54.4), Sweden (56.5), Denmark (63.2), Slovenia (61.1) and Norway (65.4).
The report says that around EURO11,7 are spent on one inmate daily in the country [the figure in the EU member states in EURO66,5].
Azerbaijan spends EURO6, Armenia- EURO11,4, and Russia- EURO2,5 on one prisoner daily.
272 of the 9,407 are women.
The proportion of inmates serving sentences for drug offenses was particularly high (more than a quarter of all prisoners) in Latvia, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Estonia, and Iceland.
The overall imprisonment rate in Europe fell by 6.6% between 2016 and 2018 - from 109.7 to 102.5 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants, CoE says.
