Prison Warden Eyes 'Strong Measures' Against Media

Chief Prison Warden Andreas Solomou said he was considering strong measures against the media after the names of several prison officials were publicised in connection with a prison rape investigation, according to his comments to state radio.

The officials' names should not have been made public by the mass media before the investigation released its results, said Solomou, who has a meeting with the state prison council today to discuss the measures. He also talked about a 'concerted' campaign by the mass media against state prison authorities.

According to reports so far, a 17-year-old alleged he was raped in December 2011 after being imprisoned in the same cell as a man in his fifties who was convicted of sexual crimes. Criminal and disciplinary investigations are underway into the prison officials' conduct, after pressure from Ombudswoman Eliza Savvidou who has criticised the state's prison facilities for being overcrowded and abusing prisoners' human rights.

Solomou did not specify which measures were being considered.

The state prison system has been criticised in the recent past for lax security and corruption following several inmate searches during which mobile phones were found that were used by criminals to run their 'business' from inside their cells. In one notorious case, convicted murderer Antonis Kitas used a mobile phone to organise an attempted contract killing of Andreas Gregoriou in Tseri in 2009. Kitas was also found guilty of organising the body snatching of deceased former president Tasos Papadopoulos, whose body was stolen from his grave in December 2009.

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