PRAGUE, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Czech Probation and Mediation Service has introduced last week the system of electronic tags for convicts on house arrest, said Czech Justice Minister Jan Knezinek on Friday.
He told a press conference that the new system is watching about 50 convicts for the time being.
Knezinek said the e-tags system worked well since its introduction last week. The perpetrators of theft or those frustrating justice were given the tags on their legs. The Justice Ministry plans to use 600 e-tags for house arrests.
After spending eight years on choosing the e-tags supplier, Czech Republic finally signed a contract with a firm in September 2017. Czech Justice Ministry paid 93 million crowns (approx 4.28 million U.S. dollars) for the relevant technology and the six-year operation of the monitoring centre. The task of the e-tags is to ensure the enforcement of the house arrest sentence, which was introduced in the country in 2010 but has been applied only rarely so far. At present, there are 125 persons sentenced to home detention in the country.
According to the Probation and Mediation Service, the e-tag system will replace current random checks of the prisoners in their homes. Courts can impose house arrest for up to two years on perpetrators of all neglect offences and those deliberate offences for which the upper limit of the penalty does not exceed five years. The convicted must promise in writing that he will stay at the specified address within the specified time period. The fulfillment of the conditions will be controlled by the e-tags. If the perpetrator fails to comply, the court may change the perpetrator's house arrest into a classical imprisonment.
For one prisoner, Czech state pays 1,200 crowns (approx 55.3 U.S. dollars) a day, while house arrest costs 130 crowns (approx 6 U.S. dollars) a day with 50 crowns (approx 2.3 U.S. dollars) covered by the convict.
