Prisons Police suspect prisoner killed in cell in Vantaa – Prison Act says cells must not have surveillance cameras

Vantaa one prisoner was found dead on Thursday morning in the so-called travel cell of the prison.

There were five other remand prisoners in the same room, according to police, but police said they were not detained for the same criminal case.

“The cause of death of the found prisoner is still unclear at this stage, so we are currently investigating the case as a suspected homicide,” said the crime commissioner. Tero Tyynelä in a police bulletin.

“There are factors that suggest at this stage that death was not natural. It is being investigated as a homicide, and it is likely that at this stage the title of the crime we suspect is murder. ”

Calm did not yet know on Thursday how long the prisoner found dead had been in a travel cell. He said five people have been arrested for the incident. Police will continue to investigate the incident through interrogations and technical investigations.

In a travel cell there was no surveillance camera. Deputy Director of Vantaa Prison Jaakko Jokinen says prisoners’ living cells may not have a surveillance camera.

“Only surveillance cells are camera-monitored.”

The absence of camera surveillance is based on Chapter 16, Section 1a, of the Imprisonment Act, which reads as follows: “Technical surveillance involves viewing and recording an image with a technical device. Technical supervision shall not be used in prisoners’ living quarters, toilets, changing rooms or other similar places. “

Jokinen says that serious violence is not very common in prisons but that violence takes place in every prison. According to Jokinen, travel cells do not differ in any way in terms of the prevalence of violence.

Vantaa prison manager Tommi Saarinen confirms the case but does not comment on it further. According to Saarinen, the matter will be investigated in prison.

Saarinen says that in the travel cell, prisoners who are on their way to the district court, another prison or another unit are temporarily accommodated. According to Saarinen, very short periods are spent in the travel cell, from a day to a few hours.

At its longest, a prisoner can spend three to four days in a travel cell, Saarinen says.