New prison building to address overcrowding by 2026

The construction of the new central prison building by 2026 will significantly alleviate the issue of overcrowding in prisons, Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis said on Friday.

He was speaking after meeting with Edek leader Marinos Sizopoulos at the party’s headquarters to discuss football fan violence, fighting crime, decongesting prisons and justice reform.

Asked at which stage the process of decongesting prisons is, the minister said the plan is for inmates to be transferred to a new building by the end of February.

He added that works to upgrade the existing building are already underway and the works will be completed in the fall, specifically in September.

He noted that “upon the completion of the works, the open prison building, which will now be converted into a central prison building, will have the capacity to receive a number of the class in excess of 200 prisoners”.

Hartsiotis added that within this year, the central prisons building will be decongested by 30 per cent.

“Also in the medium term, as you know, the construction of a new building central prisons building has already begun, with a completion schedule of 2026,” he highlighted, estimating that “we will have an even more significant alleviation – I can say optimistically and a temporary solution – of the whole issue of prison overcrowding”.

On his meeting with Sizopoulos, he said it was “a formal meeting during which we had a very useful constructive discussion on the issues that concern the ministry of justice”.

He said he listened “very carefully” to Edek’s positions and agreed to keep frequent and continuous contact with the party, towards the government’s goals and his ministry’s competencies.