Dresden (dpa / sn) - Around 2850 people spend Christmas in Saxony behind bars. According to the Ministry of Justice, the ten prisons nationwide are 76 percent full. Compared to the previous month, this means a slight decrease of 0.3 percentage points. In mid-December, a total of 2,889 juveniles, adolescents and adults were still being held. In a year-on-year comparison, the occupancy rate of the JVA was roughly the same until September, but was then over 80 percent. A total of 3755 places are currently available in the JVA, which are considered fully occupied at 90 percent occupancy.

On November 15, prison doors to offenders sentenced to less than two years in prison or fines reopened ahead of their scheduled end around the holiday period. In the course of a ministerial order on the occasion of Christmas, 48 ​​adults were released prematurely. The penalty range is a maximum of 50 days or, in the case of a replacement prison sentence - if those sentenced to fines cannot pay - 50 daily rates.

The proportion of foreign prisoners in prisons has increased further in 2022 - from 30.7 in January to 32.5 now. According to the ministry, 927 non-Germans were arrested on Tuesday, mainly from Poland, Syria, the Czech Republic, Tunisia and Libya.