Azerbaijan, Baku / Тrend corr K. Zarbaliyeva / In order to prevent any more possible suicides among the inmates of Azerbaijan's Gobustan prison, its regime will be changed.
Proposals intended to decrease the number of suicides among the inmates are being developed, they will be submitted to the Minister, the coordinator of the Public Committee at the Azerbaijan Justice Ministry, Kamil Karimov, said. The Public Committee is an organization on public control over the activities of correctional institutions.
According to Salimov, inmates are sentenced to Gobustan prison as a result of very serious crimes, and they often have psychological problems. The Committee suggests allowing for more visits and calls by relatives, as well as three-hour walks outside, and to liberalize the prison's regulations.
"The inmates' rights to freedom have been restricted, but their other rights should be respected," Salimov said.
The Central Department of the Azerbaijan Penitentiary Service designed and submitted to the Justice Ministry the project on changes in the country's Criminal Code. The project is planned to be put forward for discussion in the autumn Parliamentary Session.
The project provides for changes in the possibility of freedom for the inmates sentenced to life imprisonment, as well as for education, and televisions in the cells.
According to the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, life-sentenced prisoners are allowed to have three short and one long meeting, and two calls per year. The inmates of the serious regime are permitted to have two short meetings a year and they may walk one hour a day.