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Anastasia Balezdrova
    Prisoners in Greece are crammed into overcrowded jails without medical attention and undergo examinations, which trample on human dignity. According to unofficial information of the organization that protects their rights in prison in Larissa, there is a cell in which 208 people are crammed on top each other.
    Overcrowding is the main problem of prisoners, who have from week refused to accept their portions, and since Monday they intend to start a hunger strike. Out of a total of 12,622 prisoners nearly 9000 will participate in the protest, an exception are the elderly and sick ones, who have, however signed the petition for the protests.
    Cancellation of the detention while waiting a trial, the reduce of the penalties and just sentences are only some of the claims of prisoners who are supported by Movement "Initiative for the rights of detainees". The organization was established spontaneously four years ago after a fire in a cell in the central Athens prison Korydallos, where "the fire had started for an unknown reason". The guards did not open the door of the cell, and the prisoners had nothing to extinguish the fire with. People were burned alive, one on the bed, the other hooked up to the bars. The guards forced other prisoners to carry the burnt corpses.
    Then some of them called a radio journalist and told him about the case. As a result was formed a group of people who decided to declare themselves as supporting the rights of prisoners. Currently in the organization participate people of different professions, former prisoners and others who wish to provide assistance to the inmates in the prisons.
    Here's the story of one of the volunteers for GRReporter, who is a former prisoner and a sociologist by profession about the vaginal examination to which women are subjected: "The moment you come back from holidays or after a visit to the hospital you undergo a vaginal examination to make sure you are not to trying to bring in drugs in prison. Their opinion is that even persons who are beyond any doubt might try to bring drugs for other prisoners. The examination is performed by a nurse who is actually a former guard, recruited in the prison pharmacy to do this job.
    But even upon their release women undress their clothes in front of the guards accompanying them outside prison. "I do not understand what suspicious thing they could take out from there. Because of these checks, especially because of the vaginal examination women do not want to go out, although they need of medical attention," said another woman, and stressed on the lack of medical staff in prisons. "Even for blood tests you have to go to hospital. In the prison, there is no one who can take blood and send it for analysis. Medicines of the chronically ill are provided. If you want any analgesic or anti-inflammatory drug it may not be given to you, but if you want Leksotan or other psychotropic medication it is given to you with kilos.
    In the central Athens prison Korydallos prison there is a hospital, in which, however, are treated only men because there is no section for women and juvenile prisoners. "Moreover, when a new prisoner arrives he does not undergo medical examination to establish whether he is suffering from anything. When I was in jail in Thebes, a woman went to a doctor who determined that she suffers from mange. Then she was transferred from her cell to the insulator of the prison where we brought her clean clothes and medicines every day. The former prisoner said also that sanitary materials and hygiene items are provided once a month and in insufficient quantity. "If you don’t have anybody outside to give you money to buy some, you have a serious problem. For this reason, many foreign women are in bad shape and just rely on the solidarity of other women".
    In early September, Deputy Minister of Justice issued a decision limiting the performance of a vaginal examination unless in case of serious doubt. According to the movement, however this is just a new publication of the decrees of the existing law, which are not observed. Several days ago, Justice Minister Haris Kastanidis said that the protests of prisoners were instigated by people who are not in prison, whose aim is only to create a crisis situation, so as not to be voted the bill concerning the speeding up of the criminal proceedings by the parliament. His statement that there is no need to mention names because "you can read who are the attorneys signing the texts that are in prison on behalf of a specific initiative" is enough to understand that he means the Initiative for the rights of the detainees.
    In a letter to the Minister a prisoner rejected that claim and stressed that the only instigators of the protests are the accumulation of problems, the injustice and the failure to comply with the current legislation. The ministry announced the initiation of collaboration with university hospitals and recognized non-governmental organizations for the provision of psychiatric and medical care in prisons in the country.