Two correctional officers from Kosovo accused of assaulting a prisoner at Vestre Prison in Copenhagen have been released following a preliminary hearing held on Wednesday.
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The court concluded that there was no risk of them fleeing, as both work for the Danish Prison and Probation Service and live in Denmark, Danish media outlet Avisen reported.
Despite their release, they remain charged and deny the allegations, Danish broadcasters DR and TV 2 reported.
According to the indictment, the incident took place on October 5. The two officers are suspected of acting together, based on a prior agreement or understanding, and striking the prisoner several times in the face and body.
Citing police, TV 2 reported that one of the officers allegedly pushed the prisoner onto a bed and hit him in the face. The second officer then allegedly punched him several times in the face and body.
The two officers were arrested on October 6 and appeared in court for the preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
Positive assessment of correctional officers from Kosovo
Following the incident, the Danish Prison and Probation Service announced that it would review how correctional officers from Kosovo are trained.
Service director Ina Eliasen said the incident had raised questions about whether the training and practical experience provided to Kosovar officers were sufficient.
“It is clear that when something like this happens, we will examine whether our training for them is good enough. We will also look at whether our arrangements for working with them are good enough,” Eliasen said, according to Ni.dk.
She added that, so far, the experience with correctional officers from Kosovo had been positive. Eliasen described the latest case as an isolated incident, stressing that it differed considerably from what had been observed previously.
The incident took place on Monday in a wing of Vestre Prison. According to the police indictment, the two officers are suspected of acting together and in mutual understanding to punch a prisoner several times.
At the time, both were on duty and had completed their six-month training and practical placement.
However, even after completing their placement, officers from Kosovo must work alongside Danish colleagues if they stay and are employed in Denmark for a certain period, Eliasen explained.
“They are always together with Danish officers. During training, they work with their colleagues and do not work alone,” she said.
Asked whether there was confidence that officers who would work in Kosovo would properly treat the prisoners Denmark plans to send there, Eliasen answered yes.
For this reason, Denmark intends to establish a special oversight mechanism at the prison in Kosovo.
“It is far away, but our aim is for it to operate just as it does in Denmark. That is why we need some kind of supervision in the corridors there. We are working on this,” she said.
Eliasen said the idea of such a monitoring system had been discussed before, and that the latest incident had now been incorporated into the process.
Denmark plans to create 300 prison places in Kosovo.
An agreement to transfer prisoners to Kosovo was reached in 2021. It provides for foreign nationals convicted in Denmark who are to be deported after serving their sentences to serve those sentences in Kosovo.
However, implementation of the agreement has been postponed several times. In September, Danish Justice Minister Nicolai Wammen announced that it had been delayed once again.
Under the current plan, the prison facilities in Kosovo are expected to become operational at the end of 2027 or, at the latest, in early 2028.
The Danish Prison Officers’ Association said that 15 correctional officers from Kosovo had completed their training in Denmark so far, while another 19 were currently in training.
Meanwhile, Minister Wammen confirmed that the parties supporting the sentencing reform would be informed about the incident.
“I consider the incident at Vestre Prison very serious. The case has been referred to the police and will now proceed through the justice system,” Wammen said in a written statement.
