The government is endorsing a plan to construct more prisons in an effort to solve the problem of overcrowded detention centers around the country. According to the state news agency, Deputy Justice, Transparency and Human Rights Minister George Petalotis forwarded a document to parliament calling on the country's regional governors to suggest appropriate spaces for the construction of correctional facilities in an effort to solve the problem of overcrowded prisons, it was announced on Tuesday. The document was forwarded in response to a question by New Democracy (ND) MP Ioannis Plakiotakis on the detention conditions in prison facilities.
Petalotis stated that classified security plans have been prepared to be implemented in case of emergency incidents in correctional facilities. As regards the inmate population in Greek prisons, the deputy justice minister stated that on Jan.1, 2012 the prison population comprised 11,892 adult inmates, 587 minors and individuals treated in prison infirmaries and 40 AIDS patients. (AMNA)