After the prison imposed security measures on one Swedish inmate on Friday 30 October, other prisoners refused orders and some threatened a hunger strike; the prison responded by shortening morning free movement in one department to the legal minimum. Swedish broadcaster SVT reported this week that Swedish prisoners are being disciplined for the protest

The prison has cut morning free movement in one department from 6.30am to 8am, saying inmates behaved "improperly"; the prison director denies any large-scale hunger strike however.

Under a 2025 deal Sweden is paying €30.6 million a year for 300 places, rising to €61.2 million at 600. The first inmates from Sweden started arriving in August, and now total 15 according to reports.

"They have behaved improperly. That is why we have changed the schedule," Alina Poduškina, communications chief at the Estonian Prison Service, of the reason for the harsher regime..

Inmates in the special department can now leave their cells only from 8am rather than 6.30am. According to SVT, the prison does not have enough staff in the early morning hours to maintain order, in the wake of the protests. inmates can move freely for 10 hours in total in a day.

Tartu Prison director Merle Ulst noted in a letter to SVT that the protest had not been an extensive one, and included missing individual meals, rather than undergoing a full-scale hunger strike, and refusing to return to cells. "Some inmates have skipped individual meals. They are not obliged to eat every meal, and they buy some food themselves through the prison's e-shop. There is no major strike in the prison," she wrote.

Some prisoners have also refused prison work and participation in activities, while some have not returned to their cells when ordered.

Swedish media have previously reported that inmates expressed dissatisfaction with conditions at Tartu Prison. In an open letter published in the autumn, they complained about limited work and activity opportunities, few washing opportunities and protein-poor food. They also claimed they had experienced racism.

The protest follows an unannounced inspection by the chancellor of justice's advisers in late August, which found that most of the 15 Swedish inmates interviewed had opposed their transfer and felt their objections had been answered vaguely.

Background:

Under the deal struck in June 2025, Sweden pays Estonia at least €30.6 million a year for 300 prison places, rising to €61.2 million at full capacity of 600, with an extra €8,500 per prisoner per month beyond the first 300 and annual indexation of 3.5 percent .

The first Swedish inmates arrived at Tartu Prison on August 18, and by the end of the year up to 200 are expected, with the agreement capped at 600 and worth €30.6 million a year to Estonia. By late September, relatives had told Swedish tabloid Expressen that inmates were eating from metal bowls and losing weight, and in October the chancellor of justice's advisers found that most of the 15 inmates interviewed had opposed the transfer, felt their objections were answered vaguely, and said they had lost motivation to work toward a law-abiding life.

Estonian courts are bracing for more work: prisoner complaints already account for 27 percent of administrative court cases.

Tartu Prison is one of three main penitentiaries in Estonia, the others being in Tallinn and Jõhvi (Viru Prison). Tartu was chosen for the rental scheme due to the vacant cell space there.

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