International Journal on Criminology Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2015 | Page 50

Organized Crime Behind Bars
prison, 106 accounting for a third of the 500 prisoners, created a climate of fear and
insecurity both for guards and other detainees 107 to the extent that upon arrival, non-
Muslim prisoners were warned by the management of the existence of these gangs,
and of the growing tensions between the guards and black and ethnic minorities. 108
The guards are reluctant to suppress offensive behavior by the minorities for fear
of being accused of politically incorrect attitudes, or being sanctioned for racism
or Islamophobia. The inevitable laxity resulting from this leads surreptitiously, but
inexorably, to control of the prison by the gangs. One entire wing is today considered
unsafe, and the guards go there reluctantly.
The government considers that the guards at Whitemoor should receive
specific training on Islamic culture, to better understand the prisoners and have joint
meetings for discussion on prison life and other more general topics. In another
prison, guards were forbidden to wear the cross of St. George on their uniform ties,
to avoid offending the sensibilities of Muslim detainees.
Most Muslims are detained for reasons unrelated to terrorism, but they spend
their time alongside other prisoners with links to Al-Qaeda—and thus the prison
system has become a recruiting ground for Islamic fundamentalists. This threat of
radicalization is not only affecting British prisons, but other European countries, the
USA, and Australia besides. 109
3 - Czech Republic
“The prison problem is, in my opinion, a time bomb; Czech prisons are
controlled by the Russian Mafia and the occurrence of a serious incident is only a
matter of time.” These are the words of Marie Benesova, former State Prosecutor
General. 110 She added that during her time as a lawyer, a client had told her that in
the prison at Bory, Plzen, inmates were able to obtain “everything they wanted”—
telephones, drugs, sex and alcohol. In exchange for money, of course.
The threat is taken very seriously in the Czech Republic under the authority
of a ministerial Interior Justice committee. The fight against prison gangs is jointly
entrusted to the “Security Intelligence Service” (BIS) and the “Organized Crime
Investigation Unit” (UOOZ) in close cooperation with the prison administration.
Upon taking office as Minister of Justice in July 2002, Pavel Rychetsky, 111 declared that
“putting these prison gangs in their place” would be the first of his tasks.
107
McNally, M. Muslim Gangs Taking Over British Prisons. Report, Whitemoor Prison, June 1, 2008.
108
Black and ethnic minority.
109
For example, Perry, M. “Australia breaks up Muslim Prison Gang.” Reuters, April 23, 2007.
110
Mladá fronta DNES. July 24, 2002.
111
Current President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic. Minister of Justice from 2002
to 2003.
45