Number of prisoners continues to fall

During the first months of 2014, the previous year’s rate of decline in the number of people held in places of detention in Ukraine was maintained. As of 1 May 2014, 117,440 people were held in 181 institutions of the State Penitentiary Service, which corresponds to a prison population rate of 259 per 100,000 of the population.
A month ago, 122,150 people were held in places of detention, compared to 126,937 at the beginning of 2014.
As of 1 May 2014, 19,796 people were held in 24 active pre-trial detention centres and 8 correctional institutions operating as pre-trial detention centres, compared to 22,146 at the beginning of the year.
At the beginning of May, 96,835 people were held in 141 institutions of the penal system, compared to 100,194 individuals at the beginning of the year.
This data includes individuals held in places of detention in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.