The conditions of detention of children in prisons was the focus of the debate that took place in the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs on Wednesday, while a bill to ban the use, import and possession of mobile phones in the Department of Prisons was also discussed.
In his statements after the end of the session, AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtidis said that the government has been requested for the fourth time to extend the opening of a detention center for minors outside the Central Prisons, from January 1, 2026, which is valid today, to December 31, 2026.
“I must say that the legislation was passed in 2021 and to this day we are still waiting for the juvenile detention facility. It is a very serious matter, because both the law and European conventions oblige us to keep minors in a place separate from the central prisons. The annoying thing is that instead of the government side coming gently and telling us that it made a mistake and that it is asking for our help, it has the impudence to go on the attack and claim that everything is going well," he noted.
He also referred to an overcrowding problem, as, he said, currently 39 people should not be in prisons, but in a separate juvenile detention facility.
"It is impermissible for the state itself to set schedules that it cannot keep," he said.
He added that it is also unacceptable that today the legislation is being violated from another aspect.
"Among the 39 who are serving time in the detention area within the Central Prisons, which is for minors and young people, are offenders who committed an offense between the ages of 18 and 21, who under the juvenile offender legislation should not be in that area unless they committed the offense before they were 18," he further explained.
"The management of the Prisons and the Ministry consider this to be normal. We consider that this is not only not normal, it is also dangerous, especially when it is added to the continuous violation of the legislation regarding the creation of the place of detention for minors", he emphasized on the matter.
According to Mr. Pasiourtidis, the committee also discussed the bill for the tightening of penalties regarding the use and entry of cell phones into prisons.
As he mentioned, if a system for deactivating mobile phones worked then this tightening of the legislation would not be discussed today, as paradoxical as this sounds.
"Prisons have been transformed from a penitentiary into a crime hotbed, court decisions have found that crimes were committed or organized from within prisons. Every major crime in recent years has directly or indirectly involved prisons. This is obviously downplayed in terms of its seriousness by both the Ministry and the relevant authorities. We will repeat that if and as long as a state cannot operate a modern penitentiary institution that will close all the holes of violations as well as criminal offenses, then it is better to admit defeat", he concluded.
For his part, the ELAM Member of Parliament, Sotiris Ioannou, said that based on the data received by the Commission today on the percentage of Greek Cypriot and foreign prisoners under the age of 21, who are imprisoned today, out of the 39 persons, 34 are foreigners.
"So we are talking about a percentage of around 90%. It is ELAM's firm position that these persons must finally be deported. It is not possible, those who come to our country and commit crimes, not to send them back to theirs. Those who do not respect hospitality should go back to their country," he noted.
