Strip-search optional: Volunteers to test new Swiss jail
ABC News
Corrections officials in Switzerland say hundreds of people have jumped at the chance to stay in a new jail in Zurich
GENEVA -- Would you willingly live like a prisoner for a day or two — or four? Hundreds of people have jumped at just such a chance in the Swiss city of Zurich, volunteering to take part in an open house of sorts for a new jail before the facility accepts its first inmates.
Details of the March 24-27 test run are still being worked out. But Zurich corrections authorities said Thursday they received 832 applications for an as-yet undecided number of spots.
The selected volunteers, who must live locally and be at least 18 years old, are in store for an experience that borders on a reality TV plot when they enter “Gefaegnis Zurich West” — Zurich West Prison — to test the pre-trial detention and jail services.
The facility, located west of the city’s main train station, is expected to house up to 124 people who are under provisional arrest and to have 117 places for individuals held in pre-trial detention.
