Gefängnis Zürich

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Gefängnis Zürich, also known as Zürich Prison, is a prison in the city of Zürich, Switzerland, on Rotwandstrasse. It opened in 1916 and has been expanded several times; in 1991 a provisional block with 34 beds was added in one of the courtyards. It is the largest district jail in the Canton of Zürich, with a capacity of 170 prisoners (including an 18‑bed ward for female prisoners) and about 48 staff members (as of 2009). The director is Markus Epple. The prison is close to five general and two specialized district attorney offices.

Most inmates are remand prisoners awaiting trial; only a few serve sentences there. Notable inmates include Vitaly Kaloyev, jailed in 2005 for killing air traffic controller Peter Nielsen; he was released in 2007 after two years and returned to North Ossetia–Alania. Mohamed Achraf, linked to Spanish investigations into a failed attack on Spain’s National Court, was imprisoned there in 2004 and spent time in solitary confinement as a suspected terrorist. In 2009, reports stated that Roman Polanski was incarcerated there during extradition proceedings. In 2008, a 17-year-old remand prisoner died by suicide in his cell.