A/HRC/16/52/Add.4
of detention he was brought before a judge who charged him with 25 years for smuggling
of persons. He could not communicate to a lawyer before the trial. The prosecutor or judge
did not inquire about his treatment and even when he complained to his interpreter during
trial he received no reaction.
John Koutoumanos, aged 27, and Mateo Agelopoulos, aged 33, from Greece described
the treatment of the prison officials as good. The cell was however overcrowded and one
person had to sleep on a mattress on the floor. They complained about the quality of the
medical treatment, the doctor being too young and not qualified. There was no access to a
psychologist. The mattresses and blankets were very dirty and there were many
cockroaches in the cell. The detainees were not provided with sufficient cleaning agent and
were not allowed to order it with their own money. Drinking water and phone calls also had
to be paid by the detainees and the quality of the food was described as poor.
Chios Police Station, Chios Island
Visited on 15 October 2010
The Special Rapporteur was received by Deputy Police Director Mr. Efstratios Kourasanis .
There were four police cells which were spacious and clean and a small outside yard. The
facilities had recently been painted and cleaned. The facility had a capacity of 12 holding 5
detainees at the time of the visit. In the past, the cells have reportedly been
overcrowded.The Government stressed in a note provided on 3 March 2011 that since 2010,
there has been increased inflow of irregular immigrants in the area of Evros (borders)
which results in a large number of non-nationals being detained in the EXPAs (Special
Facilities for Non-Nationals) of Venna-Rodopi and Fylakio-Orestiada, often exceeding the
prescribed capacity of such Centres. This is due to the large number of arrests in this area,
while there is substantial reduction of irregular immigrant flows through our eastern sea
borders, which is also due to the activation of FRONTEX in the region. As a result, a small
number of persons are detained in the EXPAs of Vathy-Samos and Mersinidi-Chios.
Individual cases
Mohammed Amanullah, aged 24, from Bangladesh, came in June 2009 to Greece. On 1
September 2010, he was arrested by 2 police officers in Athens. He was handcuffed behind
his back, they verbally assaulted him, but he was not beaten. He was held for one month at
the Akropolis Police Station in Athens, but not in a cell. It was difficult to sleep, he had no
shower and received food only once per day. He was also verbally abused. On 28
September he was transferred to Chios Prison, and before the interview he was transferred
to Chios Police Station, where he waited for his papers to be cleared.
A male detainee, aged 20, from Albania, had been detained in the facility for three days.
He was arrested because he did not have papers. He has been treated fine. He was in a cell
with three other people. He had access to the toilet and the shower. There was very little
heat. He had not asked to speak to a lawyer as he said it would be useless.
A male detainee, aged around 30, from Iraq, came to Greece in 2008. He spent 3 months at
Akropolis Police Station because he did not have papers. There he was beaten several times
after being handcuffed and with a motorbike helmet on the head in CID custody. Once he
received an electric shock with a taser because he went on a hunger strike to protest about
the lack of information detainees receive. The shock was so strong that he fainted. He was
later held at Omonia Police Station because he had remained in Greece despite the order to
leave the country within 30 days. He was again blindfolded with a helmet, handcuffed and
beaten. The following day the pain was so strong that he could not walk anymore. He spent
until today four months in the prison for a debt he had not repaid and was transferred to the
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