‘Semi-free’ prisoner spends the night in the cell and the day at work in Tirana

In an episode of the “Talk to Anila Hoxha” podcast on Top Albania Radio, was discussed a project of the “Talk” center under the support of the American embassy in Tirana entitled “Not just a prison”, presenting alternative sentencing options for non-violent or under-age convicts who attend school, are at work, raise children or have social and family problems.

The women’s prison in Albania is also being discussed to be closed and turned into an open prison, where citizens found guilty for minor offences will be sent, but allowed to leave for work during the day, and to return to their cells at dinner.
It still remains unclear how such a punishment will be implemented for citizens who do not have their place of residence and work in Tirana.
It is officially accepted that 9-fold of the convicted citizens are serving their sentence outside of prison with alternative punishments, obligation to appear, work in the public interest and conditional freedom. There are reportedly 10,360 such people in Tirana, of which 1,724 are kept in prison as final convicts.
Another 2,891 have the status of detainees and are presumed innocent until the courts decides. One of them, a young man who was convicted five times for drug use, benefitted from the option.
Andrea Shahaj said that his biggest prison is in fact drugs and that after he stole three bottles of alcohol to secure money for the dose, he was arrested and sentenced. He has completed his prison term, but has not yet been rehabilitated.
Shahaj states: Right now I am working in the municipal service. I used to be a drug user. I made a mistake, I served the punishment I had to serve. At that time I was 29-30 years old. I stole 3 bottles of alcoholic beverages in Durrës.
Interviewer Hoxha: Did they catch you in the act or…?
Shahaj: Yes, I stole them and they bought them cheaper and because you were forced to sell them. Even today I am a user of methadone. It’s even worse than…I can’t get rid of it. I don’t know where to go for help to save myself from this… because it’s the thing I hate the most, but because of the pain in my body I’m forced to take it.
Anila Hoxha: When did you enter prison for the first time?
Shahaj: I was 16-17 years old.
Anila Hoxha: Were you a user even then?
Shahaj: Yes.
Anila Hoxha: How much prison time did you do?
Shahaj: 2 years.
Anila Hoxha: How many times have you been arrested in total?
Shahaj: 5 times.
Anila Hoxha: Have you served the sentence the fifth time?
Shahaj: Yes.
Anila Hoxha: The last time you were arrested, you appeared before the court. What did the court say and what did you learn about half freedom option?
Andrea Shahaj: I had never heard of this alternative prison even when he told me, it’s not that I understood it very well, but the judge more or less explained it to me, he said, “this alternative prison is that you can go at night and be released the day you you can work”. It seemed more reasonable to me. It seemed to me a lighter punishment and I accepted it.

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