Police are moving to arrest inmates over a deliberate fire set in cells and a corridor of the high-security wing at Nicosia’s Central Prisons last night, philenews has learned.
Investigators from the Nicosia Criminal Investigation Department, working alongside Fire Service experts, visited wing 4 today, where inmates had set fire to cells and the corridor, and carried out examinations, according to philenews information. The method used to start the fire has been identified, with the investigation now focused on four inmates.
The same sources said two inmates instigated the fire, and police investigators may issue arrest warrants for them later today as part of the probe into arson and malicious damage.
The Fire Service said prison staff had already safely evacuated the inmates, with no one placed at risk. The fire broke out simultaneously at 10:15pm, and one member of prison staff was taken to hospital as a precaution after inhaling smoke. Wing 4 mainly houses inmates serving long sentences due to problematic behaviour and is subject to increased supervision, the Fire Service said.
The incident has been linked to prison management’s refusal to extend the time before inmates were confined to their cells, meaning they were unable to watch the World Cup final. Cells in this particular wing, unlike others, do not have individual televisions.
However, according to the same philenews sources, the real cause is that some inmates in the wing want to be transferred to other wings, because this wing, under current measures, has no power sockets and therefore no access to televisions or mobile phones. Several inmates have long requested a transfer without success, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the Prison Personnel Branch of PASYDY reacted strongly to the fire. In a statement, the branch strongly condemned yesterday’s incidents at the Central Prisons and reiterated the longstanding, urgent need to decongest the prison population by immediately reducing the number of inmates. The branch said occupancy exceeding 200%, the highest in the EU, combined with staff shortages, inevitably limits the capacity for comprehensive oversight needed to prevent and avert the escalation of such incidents.