Cyprus is to build a new central prison at a cost of over €350 million with capacity for 1,500 inmates, Justice Minister Costas Fytiris has announced, telling parliament the existing system faces problems he admitted can no longer be denied.
“We have already acknowledged the problems,” Fytiris told the Human Rights Committee during a discussion on conditions at the Central Prison. “A person must be able to serve their sentence when they break the law, whilst also enjoying human rights. In these prisons, staff are being worn down, and that exhaustion is causing additional problems.”
Despite pardons and deportations, the prison population stands at 1,175 — back to pre-Christmas levels — with 8 to 10 new arrests every day. Cells designed for two now hold three; cells for four now hold six. One third of all prisoners are on remand, and 60% are foreign nationals.
To relieve pressure, an express deportation procedure is in place for those in Cyprus illegally, with 1,450 people removed in the past two and a half months. Electronic monitoring tags will be increased from 30 to 80 by 31 March. The minister said sentence relief was being pursued at this stage precisely because of the overcrowding.
The new prison will be a closed facility and will not affect surrounding communities, Fytiris said. Once it is built, the existing prison will be converted into a remand-only centre, located next to the courts. All expansion works at the current site have been suspended. “It is a pioneering and enormous project,” he said. “We have already secured the land.”
The Central Prison has been without a director for four years — a vacancy the minister said had caused serious damage to staff hierarchy, cohesion and morale. The post has been advertised and attracted 37 applications. “It is not me who selects, nor who sets the criteria — that is the Public Service Commission,” Fytiris said, adding that he hoped the most suitable candidate would emerge to manage a population that includes hardened criminals with strong personalities. Legislation is being prepared to set distinct employment criteria for prison guards and the director, separate from standard civil servants, to be tabled with the incoming parliament. A dedicated prison officers’ training school is also planned.
Staff are under psychological pressure and turning to sick leave in large numbers, the minister acknowledged. “There are far too many sick days — they cannot be issued by phone, or with one person collecting sick notes for ten colleagues,” he said. Fytiris said he wants a points-based reward system introduced for prison officers and police in difficult posts, with tougher assignments rewarded through pay differentials and factored into promotions. “Those who are absent cannot accumulate points,” he said.
Thirty mobile phones have been seized inside the prison this year alone, and the black-market price of a phone has shot up from €500 to €5,000. On drugs, some individuals have attempted to smuggle narcotics into the facility by concealing them on child visitors.
The minister added that two trans inmates are currently held at the Central Prison, with a third expected. They are housed in a wing of just 12 prisoners. A small dedicated space for trans detainees is being planned.
Juveniles are expected to move to the Menoyia facility by the end of April.
Read more: