In their latest letter, members of the association call for Justice Minister Sam Tanson to vehemently transform Luxembourg's penal system from "a middle aged circumstance to the 21st Century".
Speaking to the "Luxemburger Wort" a week and a half ago, Serge Legil argued that of those individuals sentenced to life in prison, not a single person was granted parole sooner than 28 years.
The association organised a meeting back in March of 2018 with then Justice Minister Felix Braz to discuss the "deplorable situation of the penal system". Braz had told members of the association that the prison would be modernised as of 2022.
Despite the association not fully agreeing to the delay, they felt that Braz showed interest and motivation to implement long-term improvements. The theme of modernising Schrassig prison was therefore also included in the government programme of 2018. Yet last week many were surprised to hear that the discussion on tearing down or rebuilding the prison was suddenly on the table. Despite physical modernisation of the prison being a good idea, core problems with the penal system will remain, the association argues.
Alternatively, the justice ministry should consider reducing the size of the prison, with Luxembourg just having "113 people in prison for each 100,000 inhabitants."
In this context, Sam Tanson has drawn inspiration from Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands, where penal codes are lighter and flexible.
Concrete plans for the future of Schrassig or the penal system are yet to be put forward.
