Bastøy Prison

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bastøy Prison (Norwegian: Bastøy landsfengsel) is a minimum security prison located on Bastøy Island, Norway, about 75 kilometers (46 mi) south of Oslo. The facility is located on a 2.6 square kilometer (1 sq mi) island and hosts 115 inmates. Øyvind Alnæs, governor of the prison, leads a staff of 69 prison employees. Of this staff, only five employees remain on the island overnight.[1]

Once a prison colony for young boys,[2] the facility now is trying to become "the first ecological prison in the world."[1] Inmates are housed in wooden cottages and work the prison farm.[3] During their free time, inmates have access to horseback riding, fishing, tennis, and cross-country skiing.[1][4]

The prison colony was featured in the DVD extras for Michael Moore's documentary Sicko.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Kilner, James. "Break the law and live by a beach", Reuters, 23 March 2006. 
  2. ^ CNN Breaking News. Transcripts. CNN (July 13, 2006 – 09:30 ET). Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
  3. ^ Shishkin, Philip. "Norway's convicts take a number, line up for prison", Chicago Sun-Times, June 8, 2003.
  4. ^ Hundley, Tom. "Norwegian Jails Break Concept Of Hard Time", Chicago Tribune, October 19, 2003.

[edit] External links