SWEDEN'S PRISONERS SO-FREED

SWEDEN is among the countries with the fewest prisoners in the world : there are 0.5 inmates per 1,000 inhabitants, which is half of that in France [one per 1,000], Swedish and French prison data show.

It's barely 6.00 am and Alfred is already busy milking cows. But when his chores on the farm are done, he won't be going home - he'll be returning to his prison cell.

In Sweden, which prioritises rehabilitation over long prison sentences. Alfred is one of 60 inmates preparing to reintegrate into a society at a minimum security ''open prison'' functioning as a farm in the town of Mariestad, about 300 kilometres [185 miles] southwest of Stockholm.

Imprisoned since April for illegally possessing a gun, Alfred, a grandfather in his 50s who is due to be released in November, can't hide the joy he gets from spending time with the animals.

''I like them.......they calm me down,'' he says with a sigh, wearing a cap, his arm covered in tattoos.

In this agriculture prison called Rodjan - the biggest of Swedish penitentiary system's three farms   -his routines are the same everyday.

He meets up with his work assignment partner Sofian [both names have been changed to protect their identities] in the morning for two and a half hours of work and then once again in the evening.

''I clean the udder to avoid the bacteria, then I disinfect it'' before pulling the teats, Alfred says enthusiastically.

Other inmates work on the farm watering the plants, repairing the gates, and mowing the lawn. And a dozen of them are in charge of the livestock.

The honor and serving of this Operational Research  publishing on Prisons, Prisoners and Freedom continues.