Filenews 31 December 2025 - by Michalis Chatzivasilis
After the 55 releases of prisoners with a presidential pardon due to the Christmas and New Year holidays, a second batch of dismissals is coming, due to the assumption of the EU Presidency by the Republic of Cyprus.
This is a list that includes 130 prisoners, of whom more than 80 are foreigners who will be released, immediately arrested and deported, as is the decision of the President of the Republic, provided that they have been convicted of non-serious offenses.
According to information from Filenews, the majority of foreigners are Syrians and have been convicted of immigration offenses. At the moment, 35 foreigners are being held in the Central Prison who have been convicted of assisting migrants to come to Cyprus, mainly through the port of Tartus in Syria. There are several others who have been convicted of possessing false documents in order to deceive the authorities and travel abroad.
The new list of 130 prisoners under release also includes the element of decongestion of prisons, since they would normally be released until 31/12/2026. In other words, there are people who will be released from prison almost a year earlier for the purpose of helping the problem of overcrowding. The new releases will be announced within the next few days and the list is already in the hands of the Attorney General, so that it can be studied, to examine each case separately so that the wrong people are not released from prison and wrong messages are sent. When the list is approved, it will be forwarded to President Christodoulidis so that he can sign the favours and open the cells.
With the 55 releases of prisoners before Christmas and the 130 to come, the prisons will take a strong breath in the battle for a more dignified living of prisoners until other, longer-term solutions are found that will decongest our penitentiary for good. At the moment, 1120 people are incarcerated with a prison with a capacity of 650 people. For a definitive solution to the problem, the construction of a new prison that will be able to accommodate up to 360 convicts is being promoted, but has an operating horizon of 2028 and will cost about €70-80 million.
The works have already begun and the new prison wing will be located west of the existing facilities. The projects were put on track under the ministry of Marios Hartsiotis and their acceleration has been requested now under the ministry of Konstantinos Fytiris, while at the same time the completion of the first phase of the works at the Limnes Pre-Removal Center for the transfer of the deported foreigners who are currently detained in the detention center of Mennogeia, so that they can be converted into a place of detention for minors, is expected. Regarding minors, the Committee against Torture of the Council of Europe, CPT, has written many times in its reports that they cannot be detained in the places they are today, since they ask for a friendlier environment away from long-term convicts and in general places that do not resemble a prison.
In an effort to reduce the number of people sent for detention in the Central Prisons, the bill will be reinstated to confine prisoners to their home or workplace with electronic monitoring (wristband). The solution to the problem has been found and it will be left to the Court to decide in which cases this alternative way of confinement will be imposed instead of in a cell.
It is noted that the new releases due to the EU Presidency and political decision such as foreigners convicted of non-serious offenses to be deported, will not include persons serving prison sentences for murder or homicide, sexual crimes, drugs and other offenses such as arson, robbery and violence.
