Vol. 72/No. 49      December 15, 2008

The proposed law would reform the system of reducing sentences. As a result, some 5,500 additional prisoners could be released by April 2009. A statement by a prisoner’s committee in the Korydallos prison, one of Greece’s largest, said the legislation was “a first step.”

The protest started November 1 and turned into a full-blown strike November 7. It spread to include 21 of the 24 prisons in Greece.

At least 8,000 prisoners took part in the hunger strike, including 5,500 who refused all food. The total prison population is about 12,000. After several days the health risks were increasing and some prisoners’ lives were in danger.

Overcrowding is a major issue for the prisoners. Government figures show that prisons held more than 11,600 inmates in July with an official capacity to hold 7,543.

The prisoners are demanding improved conditions. These include the reduction in the number of prisoners per cell, common grounds and yards, special meeting places for visitors, and workshops for productive activities. They are also demanding a reduction in the maximum penalty, which now stands at 25 years, as well as full hospital care, doctors assigned to each prison—including those far from the major cities—and upgraded facilities.

The response by the prison authorities and the government had been that there are no funds available. “How can they have funds to build four new high-security prisons when they have no funds to provide doctors?” asked Kostas Papadakis, a representative of the Lawyers Association of Athens.

Several actions in solidarity with the inmates have taken place outside prisons in Athens, Thessaloniki, and elsewhere. The largest was a rally and concert November 10 of some 2,000 people in downtown Athens.  
 
 
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