Govt aims to eliminate prison overcrowding by Sept 30

The government aims to eliminate prison overcrowding by September 30 and create nearly 3,000 new places in order to put an end to the "prison business" compensation claims, the justice minister said on Monday. Compensation payments to prisoners and their legal representatives totalling billions of forints on grounds of insufficient prison conditions rightfully hurt a sense of justice by many members of society, Judit Varga said at an event in Veszprem in western Hungary marking the opening of ten new prison extensions. The government will resolve this by eliminating the legal grounds for such compensation payments, she added.