The director general of the prison is surprised by the number of prisoners eligible for amnesty

This Monday, the Director General of the Reintegration and Prisons Service was surprised by the number of prisoners eligible for amnesty as part of the Pope’s visit to Portugal, which resulted in the release of more than 160 people from prison.

In an interview with Rádio Renascença, Rui Abrunosa admits that “I did not expect so many prisoners to leave” and reminds that “by the end of the year even more prisoners should leave.”

“I was surprised and didn’t expect so many prisoners to leave! More than 160 or so have left since September 1, and I thought only about 50 would leave. By the end of the year, more should leave,” says the man in charge of the Directorate General of Reintegration and Prison Services (DGRSP).

The government law establishing pardons of sentences and amnesty for offenses committed by young people in connection with World Youth Day extended to crimes and offenses committed before 19 June by young people aged 16 to 30, establishing a one-year pardon for all punishment up to eight years in prison.

Exceptions to pardon and amnesty included persons who had committed crimes such as murder, infanticide, domestic violence, cruel treatment, grievous bodily harm, female genital mutilation, qualified physical harm, forced marriage, kidnapping and crimes against freedom, and also sexual arbitrariness. definition.

The crimes of extortion, discrimination and incitement to hatred and violence, trading in influence, money laundering and corruption were also excluded.

Ruy Abrunosa Goncalves, who says there are currently just over 12,500 inmates in prisons, dismisses the widespread idea of ​​overcrowding, although he acknowledges that this could happen in some institutions.

Looking at the previous prisoner departure period by number of prisoners during the Covid-19 pandemic, the official explains that 2,155 prisoners left prisons and 960 extraordinary administrative exit permits were issued.

“Of those released, only 21.6% returned to criminal activity, and of the rest, only 123 prisoners had their (licenses) revoked. What conclusions have we drawn? That we released those who did not pose a danger, and that, perhaps, these people could remain free immediately and serve their sentences,” he explains in an interview with RR.

Currently, about 30 thousand people are serving sentences under alternative sentences in the community.

Each prisoner costs the state 56 euros per day and, according to the director general of the DGRSP, “the economy is important here” and the more people you can have outside prisons, the more you save: “This is multiplied by 365 days and then by 12,500 prisoners, that’s a lot of money,” he says.

In his first interview since taking office, Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves argues that the government must invest in strengthening prison guards and specialists in educational centers, under penalty that in six years there will be no people to work in these places.