Convict mistakenly freed from Zaanstad prison a year early now considered a fugitive
A prisoner incarcerated at a facility in Zaanstad was mistakenly released from custody in December, more than a year earlier than ordered, the Custodial Institutions Agency (DJI) said late last week. The organization released few details about the prisoner, and also offered little to explain the reason for the error. The person has yet to be captured.
He was released from detention on December 21, but a when the Public Prosecution Service took a closer look at the situation, they discovered that the prisoner still had a remaining sentence of 401 days. The department within the prosecution service that handles parole recalculated the multiple detention orders issued by the judicial system and recognized the error on February 7.
"The person concerned has not yet been found," the DJI wrote. Citing privacy reasons, the DJI refused to name the prisoner, and also would not state the crimes which led to the man's conviction, or the original duration of the prison sentence. He is not an "immediate threat to safety," the DJI told ANP.
"Due to human error in combination with limitations of the information system, the recalculation of the duration of various sentences at the Justitieel Complex Zaanstad did not go well," a spokesperson for the DJI told the Telegraaf.
The disclosure was made in the regular monthly overview of incidents that took place in Dutch penitentiaries. It was mentioned in the middle of a collection of 19 different items, nearly all of which took place in February.
The Dutch police team that handles investigations into fugitives, FastNL, was asked to help find the person. The office that coordinates authorities involved in investigations and criminal cases, AICE, was also asked to assist.
The Zaanstad prison complex has space for about a thousand inmates, including repeat offenders, those with psychiatric problems, and people with physical or mental disabilities. Opened in 2016, the facility also offers training and reintegration, and has holding cells for people awaiting trial.
