In light of the protest of the Post-Penal Social Acceptance and Reintegration Association New Beginning, the Penal Sanctions Enforcement Administration notes that all persons deprived of liberty who tested positive for COVID-19 are receiving adequate health care and medical treatments in accordance with the official protocol which applies to all citizens of Serbia.

Although there were no cases of infection among convicted persons between April and the end of November, due to the worsening of the epidemiological situation, the Penal Sanctions Enforcement Administration was able to secure 12,000 antigen tests in a timely manner so that it may respond adequately to its biggest challenge – daily reception of new arrivals potentially carrying the virus.

Medical Unit doctors follow the official protocol – persons claiming to have any of the symptoms are immediately isolated from the rest of the group, tested, placed under close medical care, and treated.

Persons infected with COVID-19 have their oxygen saturation (oxygen level in blood), temperature and blood count measured, and lungs scanned if necessary. In addition, they receive adequate, personalised treatment and stronger doses of vitamin supplements which boost immunity.

The Penal Sanctions Enforcement Administration supports every initiative aimed at improving the position of convicted persons, but it also has the responsibility to state that, over the past several weeks, the protesting association has been spreading false information in its media statements that convicted persons who tested positive for COVID-19 were not receiving medical care.

The Penal Sanctions Enforcement Administration would like to remind the readers that — contrary to how the protesting association has presented the matter — PCR tests have not been mandatory in case of ‘standard’ visitations of convicted persons. External visitors are obliged to wear protective masks, whereas convicted persons are provided with masks, gloves and visors. Conjugal visitations and visitations by children (or ‘special’ visitations) are allowed in special rooms (to which convicted persons have the right once every two months, for three hours at a time) provided that the visitors show results of a negative PCR test that is not older than 72 hours.

The protesting association had the duty to make this distinction and clarify the matter for the public. Only that association — which in its name emphasises care for convicted persons — knowns the reasons why it intentionally misleads the public and continually abuses the COVID-19 situation, spreading false and disturbing information.

At present, 1% of persons deprived of liberty of a total of 10,642 in 29 prison correctional institutions (PCIs) has tested positive for COVID-19 presence.

Since March, the Penal Sanctions Enforcement Administration has not stopped informing the public through the use of media about the way it provides health care to convicted persons and COVID-19 prevention measures. For the first time this summer, the Administration faced a situation where certain media not only wished not to publish Administration’s information that there were no infected convicted persons in the PCIs, but they also published information about an emergence of an infection among convicted persons without first verifying it directly with the Administration and receiving a formal response from the Administration, which goes against journalism codes of ethics and this esteemed profession itself.

The Penal Sanctions Enforcement Administration would like to reiterate that since March, individual PCI administrations have had an open dialogue with their convicted persons about preventive measures, and they together with their families have shown incredible understanding for the newly arisen circumstances.

While all citizens have been sharing one concern, convicted persons in Serbia have been making tremendous personal contributions to help alleviate the situation. Since the start of the pandemic, convicted persons serving sentences in the country’s largest PCIs – located in Sremska Mitrovica, Niš, Požarevac (Zabela), Pančevo and Novi Sad – have been making masks, suits, single use socks, and caps for the needs of the entire penal system. The PCI in Sremska Mitrovica alone has produced nearly half a million [items] of protective gear.

In this unprecedented global situation, convicted persons in Serbia have displayed humanity and solidarity, on their own accord taking initiatives to donate funds for the treatment of sick children and to forego 4,700 ready-to-eat (‘dry’) meals for the benefit of the poorest members of society.