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] The facility is about a one hour commuting distance from Oslo.[2]
Once a prison colony for young boys, 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 2007 documentary Sicko. In 2010, both a documentary about the island by Michel Kapteijns was released[5] and King of Devil's Island a Norwegian film directed by Marius Holst.[6]