Grand Council BE No containers will be installed in the Burgdorf regional prison

The Burgdorf regional prison will not be expanded with containers. An alliance of the SP, Greens, GLP and EVP narrowly rejected a corresponding loan in the Bernese cantonal parliament on Wednesday - thus inflicting a defeat on the government.

The cantonal parliament narrowly rejected the loan of CHF 5.57 million with 77 yes to 78 no votes - with a casting vote by the President of the Grand Council, Dominique Bühler (Greens).

The new cantonal IT system for finance and accounting delayed the collection of fines by the judiciary, tax administration and debt collection offices. This led to a backlog in converting unpaid fines into substitute custodial sentences. The canton therefore needed additional detention places and wanted to temporarily install containers in Burgdorf.

"Not proportionate"

A container solution was out of the question for the Council Left, the GLP and the EVP. The loan would be granted at a time when savings were being made in the areas of education, social affairs and health, said Karin Berger-Sturm on behalf of the SP/Juso parliamentary group. "It is not proportionate to spend so much money on a temporary solution," said Elisabeth Dubler from the Green parliamentary group.

Hanspeter Steiner from the EPP also agreed. "A temporary solution costing five and a half million is disproportionate." Marianne Schild (GLP) described the capacity bottleneck in the prisons due to an IT project and the already expired substitute custodial sentences as "a kind of state failure".

"Must enforce the rule of law"

The SVP, FDP, Center and EDU did not accept the opponents' arguments. "It would be an indictment of the canton if the fines could neither be paid nor served," said Beat Bösiger on behalf of the SVP parliamentary group. "If we reject the loan, we go back to field 1."

The prisons are already full, "without containers, public safety suffers, so we need them," said Andreas Hegg (FDP). "The staff are working to the limit." For André Roggli (center) it was clear: "Even if it hurts, we have to take the money in hand to enforce the rule of law."

There was no alternative to the containers, appealed security director Philippe Müller (FDP) to the cantonal parliament. If it voted against the container loan, this would not mean that fewer people would be sent to alternative custodial sentences. "Then there will be massive overcrowding in the prisons. We will not let people go. They will be locked up." This would also be at the expense of staff. "We're talking about prison conditions here, about the working conditions of staff."

Müller did not get his point across. In the end, the No camp won as narrowly as possible because three members of the SVP parliamentary group dropped out.

Backlog of 10,000 dossiers

According to the canton, the backlog in May 2024 amounted to around 10,000 dossiers that were delayed in reaching the probation and enforcement services. Based on past experience, the canton expects that around a quarter of these cases will result in a substitute custodial sentence.

If fines are not paid even after reminders and legal collection proceedings, the fine is converted into a substitute custodial sentence. In most cases, the offenders concerned have only committed minor offenses.

The regional prisons in Bern, Biel, Burgdorf and Thun, which are responsible for enforcing alternative custodial sentences, were up to 113% full in May 2024. The containers would have provided around 40 additional prison places.

SDA