Mr. Hartsiotis reminded that in mid-October the new building of the closed prison will operate in the old building of the open prison.
The construction of a new Central Prison building with a completion schedule of 2027 and the conversion of the facilities for irregular immigrants in Menogeia into police detention centers for children was decided by the cabinet, announced the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Marios Hartsiotis, on Wednesday.
In his statements after the session of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Hartsiotis said that, among other things, two “important issues that concern current affairs and are particularly serious” have been approved.
The first, he noted, concerns the new building of the Central Prisons, which will be erected on the existing block, as he said. The minister stated that the final decision has been taken today to start its construction in the near future, with a completion schedule of 2027.
As has already been mentioned, he noted, in this specific area, around 340-350 prisoners will be able to be housed, around 2027-28, “as a result of which the issue of overcrowding in the Central Prisons, which is an issue that concerns us a lot.” He reminded that in mid-October the new building of the closed prison will operate in the old building of the open prison, where also about 240 prisoners of the central building will be transferred.
“Consequently, we will have an alleviation of 30% immediately, i.e. next month hopefully, and with a horizon of 2027-28 we expect that this issue will be finally resolved,” said Mr. Hartsiotis.
The second “serious issue”, he said, which occupied the cabinet, as he noted, is that of the child detention area, as well as the child detention area. He noted that, as is known, the Parliament, with a related decision, has given the State an extension of time until January 2026, in order to resolve the specific issue.
“Taking into account the shortness of time, but also in general many and various other issues related to the specifications of the specific building, it has been decided to use the existing building in Menogeia as a place of detention for children, but also as a place for detention centers” , said the minister. “It is the well-known building where today it is used as a place of detention for illegal immigrants,” he added.
According to Mr. Hartsiotis, the specific area is expected to be empty at the end of 2025, since specific projects are being built in the wider specific area, in the Limnes area, which will house exactly these specific irregular immigrants.
“The specific space, the existing one in Menogeia, is offered, because first of all the specifications defined in the specific regulations that have been sent to the Parliament for approval have specific limits and elements, which seem to satisfy to a huge extent exactly those criteria that set by the specific regulations, whether this concerns the square meters or the nature of the rooms, or entertainment, training areas, restaurants, sports facilities, specific areas and more”, he added.
At the same time, he continued, avoid any inconvenience to any individual, noting that this is the scheme that was decided by the previous ministerial, such as construction, the function to be assigned to the private sector.
“In this way, construction leaves and the operation and management of the space now remains,” said Mr. Hartsiotis, noting that specific construction costs are saved from the private individual, “which, as expected, would be transferred to the state, so also with the creation of the police detention centers for children, the cost of erecting any other detention centers is avoided.”
“It was an essential decision, an important decision that resolves a very serious issue as well,” the minister finally said.
