Filenews 7 August 2025
Prisoners, visitors, but mainly prison guards will pay a heavy price in case they attempt to cross or use a mobile phone in the Central Prisons.
With a relevant bill that has already been forwarded by the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Marios Hartsiotis, as a matter of urgency, to the Attorney General of the Republic for the conduct of the legalized legal and technical control, the possession and transportation of mobile phones in prisons is criminalized.
Until now, the issue has been dealt with internally with disciplinary measures against prisoners or staff in the event that they were involved in the introduction of mobile phones into prisons. However, this does not seem to have been a deterrent because the introduction and use of mobile phones by prisoners has taken on dimensions. According to court decisions, crimes were ordered by prisoners through mobile phones or even guided by prisons to commit crimes.
In recent days, the Minister of Justice and Public Order has taken the initiative to tighten the measures to prevent and combat the import, use and possession of mobile phones in prisons, hence the bill that now changes the scene with mobile phones. The bill, after being subject to legal and technical scrutiny, will be taken to the Council of Ministers for approval and then submitted to the Parliament. With this measure, prisoners will have to think again and again whether they will enter the process of importing and using a mobile phone from their cell, since, in addition to the sentence they will serve, they will also risk being convicted for the offense of using a mobile phone, something that will extend their prison term.
As duly explained to us, in addition to the additional sentence, someone will also lose the privileges of good conduct in prisons, resulting in either the right to request release on leave or other benefits. Even life sentences, if convicted of an additional offense, will lose the benefits they have today with visits outside prison, etc.
The bill includes measures that criminalize the import, possession or use, and even attempted importation, possession or use of mobile phones by detainees. At the same time, they criminalize the importation or attempted importation of mobile phones by persons who are not prisoners and visit prisoners in prisons. It provides for particularly increased penalties for members of the Prison staff who carry out or attempt to carry out such actions.
As provided, prisoners or citizens who attempt to import a mobile phone into prisons are sentenced to up to two years in prison or a fine of €5,000, while for prison officers the prison sentence reaches three years or a fine of up to €10,000, or both sentences together. It is noted that during regular checks by the Prison Directorate, mobile phones are found in cells, while targeted checks are also carried out by the Police when examining criminal cases.
It is clarified that this initiative is independent of the measures designed and being launched for the establishment of a mobile phone deactivation system in the Prisons, but also of the checks carried out in the Prisons for the detection of mobile phones. The new system for deactivating mobile phones is being promoted by the Ministry of Transport in consultation with the Ministry of Justice, without leaking anything else about the procedures.
