(ANSA) - BELGRADE, APRIL 7 - According to the information on prison density, 15 Council of Europe member states were suffering overall overcrowding of jails, with more than 100 inmates per 100 places, according to the Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics for 2019 (SPACE), published today.

In ten of them overcrowding was particularly serious, the Council of Europe noted, referring to Turkey (123), Belgium (121), Italy (119), France (117), Hungary (115), Romania (113), Malta (107), Greece (107), Austria (106) and Serbia (106). In Europe there were 89.5 inmates for every 100 available places in prisons overall.

The countries with the highest incarceration rates were Russia (386 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants), Turkey (329), Georgia (270), Lithuania (232), Azerbaijan (218) and Czech Republic (203). Other countries with high incarceration rates were Republic of Moldova (197), Poland (190), Slovak Republic (189), Montenegro (186), Albania (185), Latvia (183) and Estonia (181).

In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, "prison administrations and all the relevant authorities should strive to resort to alternatives to deprivation of liberty, in particular in situations of overcrowding and take all possible measures to protect both the prison population and prison staff," said Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić. (ANSA).