Women prisoners set to leave Korydallos
Greece’s largest prison for women, in the Athens suburb of Korydallos, will be closed down and all the inmates moved to a new jail in central Greece by January, Justice Minister Sotiris Hatzigakis said yesterday. The women’s jail operates as a wing of the heavily overcrowded Korydallos men’s prison and conditions faced by inmates have been repeatedly criticized. Hatzigakis said that the prisoners would be moved to a jail near Thebes and the site in Korydallos would be turned over to the local municipality to make use of. The ministers said that the government plans to open six new jails next year, which will also see male inmates from Korydallos Prison moved to new facilities. Hatzigakis proposed to his European counterparts last week that Greece be allowed to repatriate foreign prisoners to alleviate overcrowding.