Successful volunteers will experience real prison conditions between March 24 and 27. Inmates will have to surrender electronic devices, including mobile phones, and will be offered halal, vegetarian or meat menus. Strip searches on arrival are optional and successful applicants cannot transfer their ‘get into jail’ pass to anyone else.
The cantonal authorities came up with the unusual idea to give the facility and staff a test run before the prison starts taking real inmates in April. Some of the wardens and other staff have been newly recruited.
The deadline for volunteering as an inmate expires later this month. But Le Temps newspaper reports that the number of applications from people living in the canton is already nearly three times the capacity of the prison.
Prison director Marc Eiermann told the newspaper that volunteers should not expect a “holiday camp” but would be free to leave at any time.
He added that the pilot project should be a good way of “ensuring the proper functioning of daily operations and allowing wardens to familiarise themselves with the facility”.
The project is only open to adults living in canton Zurich and applicants must agree to background checks to check their suitability to participate.
The new Zurich West prison was built partly to alleviate criticism of conditions for remand prisoners in the canton.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Abroad
How centuries of Swiss emigrants left their mark on the US
Bodycams: essential for good law enforcement, or a privacy risk?
Did you ever come across bodycams in your place of residence and if so, how do you think the use of bodycams alter the relationship between the public and (transport) police?
This content was published on
Swiss wheelchair racer Catherine Debrunner won the 5,000 metres to bring home Switzerland’s first gold medal at the Paralympics in Paris.
Detainees in Swiss prisons at lowest level in a decade
This content was published on
Statisticians say the fall in numbers could be linked to Covid-19 restrictions, but that longer term trends still need to confirm this.
Prisoners in Switzerland stay behind bars despite coronavirus
This content was published on
France and the US have decided to release inmates as a measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus in prisons - not so in Switzerland.
This content was published on
Almost three-quarters of all detainees in Swiss prisons are of foreign origin, a study shows. An analysis of the factors behind the numbers.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.