As incidents of gender-based violence are on the rise, Justice Minister Costas Fitiris on Tuesday highlighted the need for a coordinated response by all relevant state authorities through the Red Flag platform, which is scheduled to be launched by the end of the year following a five-year delay.

“I estimate and want to believe that it will be implemented by the end of the year,” he told Sigma’s Protoselido programme.

Fitiris said the platform was intended to enable authorities to intervene early enough to prevent an escalation of violence.

“As soon as there is a first incident, it is recorded and, in the second, all services are mobilised,” he said.

Fitiris had announced the launch of the application at the House human rights committee on Monday.

He said the app had been developed in cooperation with relevant organisations and was intended to provide an early warning for high-risk cases.

The minister emphasised the number of cases showed just how critical the issues is, stressing the need for close cooperation as a key factor for the prevention of violence.

Regarding the new service referred to as the Cyprus FBI, Fitiris said the team had already been organised but its operation had been delayed by bureaucratic procedures.

“I hope to reach a conclusion within the month,” he said, adding that a building had already been found to house all members of the service in one central location, allowing for better coordination.

Creation of new central prison

Turning to the central prisons, Fitiris said the existing facilities, which date back to 1890, did not meet modern requirements for public security and the protection of human rights.

He said that, under a cabinet decision, a new prison facility would be constructed within five years.

Fitiris described it as a “large-scale and expensive project”, adding that efforts were meanwhile being made to ease overcrowding at the existing prisons, which currently hold around 1,200 inmates despite having a capacity of 800.

The minister said that despite prisoner releases at Christmas and on August 15, the facilities were filling up again due to crime.

Fitiris said that the possibility of releasing offenders sentenced to up to one year in prison after they have served 50 per cent of their sentence is being considered – subject to approval by the parole board – while efforts were also being made to extend this measure to sentences of up to two years.

Regarding the location of the new prison, Fitiris said three sites were under consideration: Mathiatis, an area in Ayios Sozomenos and a third location which he did not identify.

He said that if the Mathiatis option was abandoned because of opposition from the local community or higher costs, the ministry would consider one of the other two sites.

Fitiris said a potential change in location would not affect the progress of the project, stressing that procedures for securing financing, hiring consultants and carrying out other preparatory work were proceeding in parallel.