The phenomenon of radicalisation in prisons emerged as an important issue that needs to be addressed in the national penitentiary systems across Europe. The fact that prisons may be used as a breeding ground for radicalised violent extremists and that radicalised offenders scheduled for release from prison are not being appropriately rehabilitated are of grave concern across prison systems.

The multilateral round table focusing on radicalisation in the national penitentiary system took place on 12 March 2018 in Skopje gathering representatives of the Directorate for the Execution of Sanctions (DES) at the Ministry of Justice, prison governors and other prison staff, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, representatives from the Ombudsman’s Office, the National Committee for Countering Violent Extremism and Counter Terrorism, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, representatives of judiciary, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps and international organisations in order to discuss the Assessment report on radicalisation in prisons and identify best ways to tackle the issue.  

The round table resulted in identified actions to be undertaken as a follow-up, such as drafting and implementation of a tailored screening tool for risk assessments and interventions in prisons, development and implementation of treatment programmes for radicalised prisoners, as well as trainings for prison staff on identifying and treatment of radicalised prisoners and violent extremists, as foreseen in the National Strategy for Countering Violent Extremism (2018-2022). 

The round table was organised within the scope of the Action “Strengthening the protection of the rights of sentenced persons”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe within the “Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey” and implemented by the Council of Europe.