A prisoner named Onallah Ziyad, serving his sentence in the jail in Ostrov nad Ohří, west Bohemia, has complained that as a practicing Muslim he could not observe the Ramadan there, daily Mladá fronta Dnes (MfD) writes today.
The month-long Muslim religious season fell in late June and early July and involves fasting during daylight hours.
Ziyad complains about discrimination against him, MfD writes.
He said the prison guards had rejected all his demands that his religion be respected and that he was exposed to their arrogant behavior, it adds.
“As I am no terrorist, I cannot understand this,” Ziyad is quoted as saying.
The prison authority said it could not comply with his request over sanitary rules, MfD writes.
“There are no fridges in the prison and the food in it is for immediate consumption,” prison spokeswoman Zdeňka Stöckbauerová is quoted as saying.
“If the rules were violated, serious problems could occur, in the hot summer in particular,” she added.
Stöckbauerová said the prison authority did not prevent the practicing of religious rituals.
Ziyad can use a prayer rug and he can start and end his days by Islamic prayers, she added.
Convicted of fraud and now serving a five-year prison term, Ziyad has been living in the Czech Republic since 1987, MfD writes.
A survey conducted by the SocioFactor polling institute has revealed that most Czech jails allow Muslims to practice their religion.
However, the opportunities to do so differ, MfD writes.
In the Ruzyně prison in Prague they have their own prayer room and can use a prayer rug and religious literature, it adds.
In the Mirov and Oráčov prisoners, the prison staff respect the demands that the daily and food regime should be changed during the month of Ramadan, MfD writes.
However, in the prison in České Budějovice, south Bohemia, the rules cannot changed over the Ramadan, it adds.
The researchers also found out that the inmates often complain expediently.
Some of them only pretend to be Muslims, being unable to name the five pillars of their religion, MfD writes.
They often only demand the Muslim food in the belief that it is better, it adds.
Their complaints are also motivated by the effort to be moved to a different prison or they simply complain as they feel bored, MfD writes.