Fight breaks out in central prison for second day in a row

More fighting broke out between inmates at the Nicosia central prison on Saturday, making it the second day in a row of escalating violence behind bars.

Conflicting reports said three to four inmates were injured as a result of the fighting, which broke out in wings one and two.

The reason was not immediately clear however conditions at the central prisons have long been cause for concern.

A day earlier, a fight broke out in the prison kitchens after inmates complained about the quality of their food.

One individual was seriously injured as a result and had to be taken to hospital.

The situation got out of hand when inmates started smashing up the kitchen.

A Council of Europe anti-torture report earlier this year said prisoners were scared for their safety and crammed into tiny cells without access to toilets at night, forcing individuals to urinate in a bottle.

There were also concerns of violence against prisoners after allegations of “slaps, punches to the head, and in one case blows with a metal bar, which resulted in a fractured arm” during custody.

Amid increasing scrutiny over the prison service after convict Doros Theodorou slipped away from officers during a home visit, an expert told the Cyprus Mail earlier this week that morale at the prisons is low and corruption endemic. 

According to honorary visiting professor at Cambridge university in criminology Andreas Kapardis, there appear to be problematic relationships between staff and inmates, and he specified it as high time the prisons were subject to reform.