Ljubljana - The Slovenian Prison Administration says that overcrowdedness is still an issue in Slovenian prisons as it responded to a recent Council of Europe (CoE) report which said that Slovenia has successfully addressed the issue of overcrowded prisons.

Slovenia's prisons are currently 104.7% full, whereas the CoE report said that in 2021 only 86% of prison capacities were full.

The Prison Administration explained in a statement on Thursday that the CoE's data referred to 31 January 2021, when prisons were indeed less full due to Covid measures.

Under coronavirus emergency legislation, several measures were put in palace to cope with overcrowdedness as the country tried to prevent the spread of the virus.

These were suspension and early termination of prison sentences or courts temporarily stopping calling on the sentenced persons to start serving their sentences.

"However, before the implementation of these emergency legislation provisions and after they expired, prisons were again overcrowded."

The Prison Administration noted that these measures temporarily alleviated the situation but had in no way eliminated the issue of overcrowded prisons in the country.

Slovenia has been grappling with overcrowdedness for a longer time. The Justice Ministry believes the only way to address it is the construction of a new prison for men in Ljubljana.