Wardens at the central prison will go on strike for 24 hours on Friday next week, trade union Isotita announced on Wednesday.

The union demanded the immediate termination of disciplinary proceedings initiated against its prison wardens’ branch deputy leader Giorgos Maltezos, and called for “mandatory consultation” with the trade union regarding decisions concerning employees.

It also called for “the immediate revocation of the illegal order which punishes those who use sick leave by excluding them from overtime”, and for an independent prison chief to be appointed “outside of the army and the police, with proven knowledge and experience in prison policy”.

Under that prison chief, it said, four officers “with specialisation in criminology and personnel management” must also be appointed.

It warned that if those demands are not heard, “we will escalate our measures again, with every legal and democratic means available to the trade union movement”.

Regarding Maltezos’ situation, the union said that he had “publicly highlighted issues of overcrowding, drug trafficking, and understaffing” at the prison in December last year, and that since then “a methodical process of targeting him” has been undertaken.

The union then said that the prison is “seriously understaffed”, pointing out that at present, there is only one prison warden for every 60 or 70 prison – a ratio which “makes the safe operation of the wings impossible”.

It added that in some incidences, prison wardens have found themselves locked inside the wings with prisoners – something which they say “puts the staff and the prisoners at risk”.