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Zagreb - Justice Ministry State Secretary Juro Martinović said on Friday that there was no conspicuous lack of staff in the penitentiary system, and explained that currently jails are overcrowded due to a rise in transit crime.
Answering questions from MPs in the parliament, the state secretary said that currently it was necessary to reinforce the judicial police.
He informed the legislature of the state of affairs in Croatia's jails and other institutions of the penitentiary system in 2021.
He said that of 3,559 positions in the system, 72.27% (2,527) were occupied in late 2021.
Martinović admitted that the probation system authorities made a mistake when a man, convicted of paedophilia, was sentenced to community service and was allowed to serve in an association that cares for children with special needs in a town in eastern Croatia. He said that this was an impermissible mistake and that the authorities had apologised and corrected it.
Martinović also said that annually an estimated 12,000 people pass through Croatian prisons, and of them, 5,000 are usually foreigners detained on the count of illegal entry into Croatia.