Across Austria, there are around 3,100 prison guards for almost 10,000 prisoners. According to the Ministry of Justice, the occupancy rate is 94 per cent. According to the Austrian Ombudsman Board, this is only true on paper. Maternity leave and long-term sick leave are not taken into account. "When I visit prisons, I come across many committed employees. They are all working at the limit and feel left alone - including the prison management," emphasises Ombudsperson Gaby Schwarz and once again calls for working conditions to be made more attractive.
The Ombudsperson sees the tragic death at Hirtenberg prison as a precedent: "This severely psychotic inmate should never have been there. Such cases belong in a psychiatric ward in a hospital and not in a prison." For years, I have been calling for the number of beds in hospitals for acute psychiatric care to be increased. But there are still too few places, while the number of inmates is increasing. This must change quickly in the interests of everyone.
"Prison staff feel left alone", Ombudswoman Gaby Schwarz. (Photo: Austrian Ombudsman Board)