Prison and judicial loopholes

A prisoner held guards hostage and mistreated them, an inmate escaped from prison in Sarajevo threatening with a gun – these headlines might seem like a scene from an action movie for a moment. In reality, it is all very realistic and true.

The escape of prisoner Amel Sejfović on Sunday from the KPZ Miljacka in the center of Sarajevo, where transport was waiting for him precisely at 2:25 PM, was planned down to the last detail.

A few days after tensions subsided due to an incident in this institution when a prisoner held several guards hostage and mistreated them because he was under the influence of "prohibited substances," the news of the escape of the 28-year-old Sejfović echoed.

Prison guards were "powerless" to prevent Sejfović from carrying out his plan, and four of them were arrested on suspicion of aiding the escapee. Two destroyed mobile phones were found in the cell. The escapee also had a gun with him, which he fired. Therefore, the escape plan was conceived and planned within the prison walls. The investigation will reveal who all played a role in this case, which has shaken both the residents of Sarajevo and the entire public, who are rightly concerned.

It is already a known fact that prisons and detention centers are overcrowded, and there is a shortage of staff. Prison directors and KPZs are more concerned with securing new mandates than with respecting the law within their own ranks. What if, due to the situation in the prison system, such cases become the norm? What if guards are targeted by prisoners more and more often, and escape becomes a "better" solution than serving a sentence?

In both these cases, the system failed. The system that should and must function flawlessly and in which we, as citizens, should have the most trust. If the prison system has loopholes, how can the judicial system be sustainable? You have a sentence, but not someone to serve it.

Those who are part of the system and are undermining it themselves are a separate story. When a link in the chain breaks, the chain breaks. Justice has also shown its other face in not-so-distant examples. Lawyers and judges, as well as municipal and court officials, have been arrested. Most of these cases have ended with plea bargains or even escapes. The hand of justice has not reached them or is taking a detour.

One thing is certain. If the destruction of the entire police-security-judicial system continues, such cases will certainly no longer be rare, and justice will remain to be shown/proven against those who actually invoke it the most.