A serious overcrowding problem is being recorded in Cyprus police detention centres, with detainees even sleeping on the floor and detention rules and their rights unable to be fully observed.
At the Lakatamia detention centre, which has capacity for 40 people, there were 77 detainees on August 9. According to Nikos Loizidis, president of the Isotita Police Branch, of approximately 160 places in police detention centres across Cyprus, around 112 to 128 are occupied by convicted prisoners and remand prisoners who should normally be in prisons.
Due to overcrowding in prisons, convicted prisoners are transferred to police detention centres, while suspects arrested in Nicosia are in some cases transferred to Paphos or Paralimni, where cells are available.
Detainees who should be allowed into the exercise yard twice a day remain confined due to overcrowding.
Meanwhile, detainees who should be allowed into the exercise yard twice a day remain confined because of overcrowding and for security reasons, contrary to relevant recommendations by the CPT, the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture.
A note from Lakatamia Police Station states that the situation creates serious security problems and makes it difficult to fully implement detention regulations and safeguard human rights.
The officer responsible for the detention centre is calling for an urgent update of fire-safety and evacuation plans and implementation of recommendations from a 2024 report. Mr Loizidis also proposes using the Menoyia building for remand and convicted prisoners.
Source: Φιλελεύθερος
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