Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 13-04-01

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Justice ministry to tighten security in Greek prisons

[01] Justice ministry to tighten security in Greek prisons

The same sources compared this figure with the 22 prison guards suspended in total throughout the previous seven years, from 2005 until 2011, noting that eight of the 39 were now being held in custody, six of them for drug-related offences.

In addition, the ministry will announce heightened security measures for the country's prisons in the next few days, in a bid to keep pace with the methods and means now used by criminals that prison guards and perimeter guards were ill-equipped to deal with.

In an interview with the state television channel NET, Deputy Justice Minister Constantinos Karagounis referred to a report in a Sunday newspaper showing a series of photographs in which a Korydallos prison inmate climbed out of his cell window to pick up something left in the yard and then climbed back in.amna

The minister said the incident was recorded the previous December and prompted a full-blown internal investigation, with the case sent to a public prosecutor.

According to Karagounis, organised crime in Greece had evolved to take on "military-style" organisation and he unveiled plans to build a maximum-security facility and to equip most prisons with bullet-proof windows in guard posts, as well as wires to prevent escapes by air. Among the ministry's priorities, he added, was to equip perimeter guards with heavy-duty weaponry, systems to prevent use of mobile phones, more frequent inspections with the assistance of the police force and the hiring of an additional 500 prison guards, to make up for the 20 percent of the workforce lost through early retirement.amna

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