Norwegian Delegation Gets Acquainted with the Georgian Penitentiary System

Norwegian Delegation Gets Acquainted with the Georgian Penitentiary System

Tbilisi.11.04.05.MediaNews. A delegation of high officials of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Police, currently on an official visit in Georgia, has visited Prison No.1 and the Women’s Detention Center of the Penitentiary Department.

The delegation is headed by Martin Ruud, the Secretary-general of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Police, and delegation members include Karin Bugge, Director-General of the Ministry of Justice, adviser Cicelle Vilsgaard, and Staynar Ghil, the Ambassador of Norway in Azerbaijan and Georgia.

According to Ekaterine Tkeshelashvili, Deputy Justice Minister of Georgia, it is the first official delegation of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Police, and the visit will greatly contribute to cooperation between the two Ministries.

The aim of the visit was to get acquainted with the present situation within the Georgian penitentiary system, to share the experience and set future plans for cooperation.

Tkeshelashvili admits that the Norwegian side might provide not only legal but financial assistance as well.

After the visit in Prison No. 1, Tkeshelashvili noted that the situation in prisons is in need of a great deal of improvement, and that solving the problems will be possible only by opening a new one.

Martin Ruud told journalists that it would be unfair to compare the Georgian Penitentiary System to the Norwegian one, since the economic situation in two countries is not the same, however, the readiness of the Georgian side to change the present system is quite evident, which is a positive change indeed.

According to the head of the delegation, the Norwegian government will decide on the ways to assist the Georgians.