New Minister of Justice and Public Order, Constantinos Fytiris, visited the Central Prisons on Thursday, following the publication of the report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) of the Council of Europe and pledged that “they will move in the right directions to improve conditions”.
Speaking to the press after the meeting Fytiris said that this was a planned visit to the prisons to be briefed on situation and this meeting coincided with the CPT report.
He said that he wanted to be informed about problems and pending issues, with the aim of taking the necessary actions to improve the situation.
Fytiris noted that the situation will be improved for both the inmates and the personnel.
Replying to a question he said that they will deal with all the issues in the coming months by speeding up the actions that have already been initiated.
The Minister said that he spoke with both the management, the personnel and he visited the cells to see how the inmates reside and the conditions there , adding that “we will work to improve this system and make it truly custodial”.
Asked what his main concern is, Fytiris noted that their role is to comply with the decisions of the Courts, with a humane approach and to comply with all the requirements imposed by the conditions of a proper penitentiary system.