Bijeljina: New 250-Inmate Prison Opens at Golo Brdo

Republika Srpska has opened a new Correctional Facility complex at Golo Brdo near Bijeljina, a project funded directly from the entity’s budget and from European Union grants. Its size and financing show how closely Republika Srpska’s justice infrastructure, in an entity whose institutions Belgrade also tracks, is now tied to the broader push to align with European standards for enforcing criminal sanctions.

In brief

• New Bijeljina Correctional Facility complex opens at Golo Brdo
• Capacity: 250 places, 60 for pretrial detainees, 190 for convicted inmates
• Republika Srpska government invested about 3.5 million convertible marks, EU IPA funds added another 4.5 million euros
• Opened by Republika Srpska Justice Minister Goran Selak

The complex was opened by Republika Srpska Justice Minister Goran Selak, while details of the investment were given by the facility’s director, Milenko Gajic. He said the Republika Srpska government had put around 3.5 million convertible marks into the project, with a further 4.5 million euros coming from European Union IPA donor funds. This mix of entity budget money and European funding has backed most justice and infrastructure projects in Republika Srpska in recent years, and in Belgrade it doubles as a benchmark for how quickly institutions in the region manage to draw down funds earmarked for the justice chapters of EU accession.

The new building holds 250 places in total, 60 set aside for pretrial detainees and 190 for convicted prisoners, along with supporting facilities for housing, administration, a medical service and prison work programs. It addresses part of the overcrowding that has affected the older section of the Bijeljina Correctional Facility for years, and the new complex has been described as one of the most important infrastructure undertakings of the Republika Srpska Justice Ministry during the current term.

Sources differ on the exact date. Tanjug and the Mondo news portal, citing the Srna agency, put the opening on September 21, while Kurir reported on the same event on September 22. The act of opening itself, Minister Selak’s presence, and the figures on capacity and investment are identical across all three sources; the only difference is the day each outlet published or picked up the story.

The Republika Srpska Justice Ministry says the new complex will significantly improve the efficiency of the entire system for enforcing criminal and misdemeanor sanctions, as well as pretrial detention, in the entity. For the first time, the ministry says, Bijeljina’s prison system is being brought largely into line with the capacity standards the European Union expects from candidate and potential candidate countries, the same standards Serbia is tracking in its own accession negotiations.