A new surprise visit to the Central Prisons was made today by the Minister of Justice, who for the first time met simultaneously with both prison guards' guilds, visited wings and talked to prisoners.
Kostas Fytiris went to the penitentiary today at noon on an unscheduled visit, after yesterday's incident against a prison guard, but also after the removal of the vice-president of the Equality union, Giorgos Maltezos, who was dismissed from his duties.
Mr. Fytiris, asked by philenews, confirmed that he visited the prisoners' wing and the women's wing, talked to prisoners about the problems they face and their living in prison, and then attended a meeting with representatives of the two staff unions.
He said that he will be by the side of the staff as long as there is a balance, that is, to do their job properly and at the same time to claim their rights. "We will be by their side if they need us. We want them to feel that we are with them, as long as they do their job properly", was the clear position of the Minister of Justice.
After listening to the problems faced by the prison guards, he discussed solutions and then left. As he stated, prisons around the world are going through a crisis, as are Cypriot prisons due to overcrowding. In Sweden, they sublet prisons in Lithuania, while in Britain 9.000 prisoners will be released early to decongest prisons.
He revealed that there is a decision that the minor offenders who were sentenced to up to 12 months in prison for mainly economic offenses and have served half of their sentence, will always be released with the consent of the Attorney General. At the same time, as he mentioned, several foreign prisoners have expressed the intention to serve their sentences in their country, which is why the issue will be examined in cooperation with their embassies.
As far as illegal immigrants in detention are concerned, it has been decided that they are released and deported immediately to their countries. Regarding the position of Prison Director, Mr. Fytiris stated clearly: I have no involvement. The process was undertaken by the same house, as was recently done to the general managers. Nine candidates have qualified who will be called for an examination. He confirmed that two former army officers were among the candidates, however, he stressed that he has nothing to do with the process and did not intervene.
The decision on who will take over the management of the prisons will be made by the EDY on the basis of the recommendations of the rating agency, which uses the same model as that of the recently appointed general directors, including Anna Aristotelous.
