Filenews 30 December 2024 - by Fanis Makrides
With the new year, the Police are relieved of a big headache, which seriously affected the exercise of the duties of the police officers.
The reason for the detention of persons who should end up in the Central Prison, however, due to overcrowding in the facilities of the penitentiary and other factors, for several days the prisoners were under the responsibility of the Police.
As "F" is validly informed, this situation will be addressed with actions immediately after the end of the holiday season and specifically from January 7. According to our information, the Chief of Police Themistos Arnaoutis and the deputy director of the Department of Prisons, Kostas Konstantinidis, have reached an agreement on the whole issue.
The occasion was the new data and specifically the completion of works for wing "11" of the Central Prison, which will accommodate 240 prisoners and gives breathing space to the prison system.
According to the agreements, the undertrials and those convicted of mainly financial offenses, who were held for a few days in police detention cells before their transfer to the Central Prison, will be transferred directly to the penitentiary.
According to a competent source who spoke to our newspaper, the Department of Prisons is expected to operate the new wing from next Friday, January 3. As of January 7, all undertrials and convicts, based on an internal police note, will be transferred immediately to the Central Prisons and not after days, as was the case during the pandemic.
As we are aware, based on the agreements between the Police and the Department of Prisons, there will be a controlled flow of prisoners in the new wing, i.e. the number will not exceed by far the limit set. This is so that the transition to the new arrangement is smooth.
The Police Burden
The development is considered significant, as the Police were heavily burdened due to the inability of the penitentiary to accept undertrials and convicted persons for offences related to financial cases. A large number of prisoners who belonged to these categories and had to end up in Central Prisons remained for a relatively long time in police detention centers.
It is indicative that during the coronavirus pandemic, a circular was issued on the basis of which the Police undertook the detention of persons for a period of five days before their transfer to the penitentiary, where they had to be found from the beginning.
As a result, police officers were assigned additional duties, since due to needs, in many cases they travelled very long distances to transfer prisoners from one city to another.
This situation even caused problems in the investigation of cases. Relevant incidents were revealed during court proceedings in serious cases.
It is characteristic that a prisoner detained for a felony case in Nicosia during 2022, had been transferred to the detention center of Polis Chrysochous, as he should not be detained with suspects for the same offense. His lawyer had raised before the court a matter of understanding with his client, as due to the distance it was impossible to have a meeting to communicate.
It managed 22 spaces with a capacity of 202 persons
According to data we have obtained, until 2022, the Police managed 22 detention facilities with a total capacity of 202 persons (an additional 130 administrative detainees in HOCAM Menogeias), with 10 of these detention facilities having been declared as prisons in order to meet the aforementioned needs. This situation has not changed dramatically.
Secure information told us that according to the data that was valid until recently, at times a little over 40% of the persons detained by the Police concerned cases of undertrials and sentenced to imprisonment. We are talking about a number of between 80 and 90 people. The vast majority of them (about 3/4) were persons tried for serious criminal offences (undertrials). As for the others, they are people who have been given a prison sentence.
