Athens - Greece said on Thursday it will release more than 5,000 prisoners by April and reduce jail terms for hundreds more, particularly drug addicts who need rehabilitation with the aim at easing the country's overcrowded prisons. Greek Justice Minister Sotiris Hatzigakis said the reforms were taken after thousands of inmates at 21 prisons across Greece launched a hunger strike more than two weeks ago, with many sewing their mouths shut to protest poor conditions, overcrowding, drug dealing and lengthy pre-trail detention periods.
Prisoners are also demanding that social and political leaders be granted easier access to prisons.
Hatzigakis said a total of 3,720 prisoners would benefit from early release, namely those found guilty of misdemeanors who have already served one-fifth of their sentence.
The reforms also contain a provision allowing those convicted to terms of up to five years in jail to pay off their sentences. Those convicted of drug dealing will be excluded from all exemptions.
He said a total of 5,500 inmates would be released by April.
Greece's prisons are among the most overcrowded in Europe with 12,300 inmates crammed into jails designed to hold just 7,543.
According to the Council of Europe, detainees in Greece have to wait an average of 12 months in pre-trial detention before they go to trial, nearly three times that of other European Union states.
Protesters, whose cause has been backed by the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) and other left-wing parties, object to overcrowding and are demanding better jail conditions, including proper medical care and restrictions on the time that detainees awaiting trial must spend behind bars.
An organization called Democratic Rally, who is backing the protesting prisoners, has dismissed the Justice Ministry's initiative, saying the immediate release of prisoners was not a comprehensive solution to the problem of overcrowding in prisons.
"The reduction of the length of time that authorities can remand a suspect in custody pending trial and the introduction of more effective measures to rehabilitate drug addicts in jail would be more useful initiatives," the group state in a statement.
