Severe overcrowding at the Central Prison has forced authorities to hold inmates in police detention cells, a situation that has begun to hinder new arrests because even police holding areas are full, the newspaper Phileleftheros reports.
The prison, which has a capacity of about 700, is currently housing 1,164 inmates, the report said. Despite weekly presidential pardons that release roughly 10 prisoners at a time, the population continues to rise.
According to the paper, 50 inmates are being kept in police station holding cells due to lack of space at the prison, creating additional operational problems for police, who have at times been unable to carry out arrests or have postponed them because no detention space is available.
The Justice Ministry is reportedly considering the early release of 130 inmates who were originally scheduled to be freed at the end of the year. Most of them are foreign nationals jailed for irregular migration offenses.
As a long‑term measure, authorities have approved the construction of a new prison with a capacity of 1,200 inmates, the report said. However, without alternative solutions, the paper warned that the new facility could also be insufficient within five years.