Crime
Limassol holds 90 detainees in police cells built for 34
Holding cells nationwide are more than 100 people over capacity, with sentenced prisoners waiting for space in the Central Prisons and some detainees sleeping on the floor.
Police holding cells in Limassol were holding about 90 people on Thursday in space built for 34, according to a report on detention conditions across Cyprus that describes them as severely overcrowded.
The report, published on Thursday evening, says police cells nationwide hold more than 260 people against a total capacity of about 160. In Limassol the number rose from 60 to 90 in a week. About 20 of those held have been sentenced and should have been moved to the Central Prisons; the other 70 or so are on remand awaiting trial.
Other stations are also over capacity, according to the same report: about 75 people in Paphos in space for 38, about 85 at Lakatamia in space for 38, 40 at Aradippou in Larnaca, and 40 at Paralimni in space for eight.
Why the cells are full
The pressure comes from the prisons. The report says the Central Prisons have asked police divisions to transfer only four convicted or remand prisoners from each district, because there is no room. In Limassol that leaves sentenced prisoners in police custody, and police are making up to 25 transfers to court on some days.
Police holding cells are intended for short stays during investigations or brief remand orders, not for people serving sentences.
The report says the crowding has caused tension between detainees, that some sleep on the floor for lack of beds, and that there are sanitary problems with the sewage pits. It says detainees cannot properly exercise basic rights to communication, food and minimum living conditions.
“It is a time bomb that nobody knows when will go off,” Nikos Loizides, president of the police branch of the Isotita union, said. He said the combination of overcrowding and understaffing creates an explosive mix.
Loizides said there are two immediate remedies: completing the holding cells at Menogeia so remand prisoners can be moved there, and implementing legislation on electronic tagging for people on remand, which was put to consultation at the House legal affairs committee in 2025-2026. The report says the Menogeia centre has not yet been used for temporary detention.
Earlier warnings
A report published in August by the National Preventive Mechanism, which operates under the human rights commissioner, found 58 people held at Limassol police detention centres on 21 July, against a capacity of 34. Detainees were sleeping on mattresses on the floor, and the report said the placement of more than 34 detainees there should stop immediately.
Cyprus Police had not published a statement on the figures at the time of writing, and the force has not confirmed the district breakdown. It is also not known how quickly Menogeia will open or when the tagging legislation might be enacted.
Sources (2)
- Philenews, Limassol police cells overcrowded, hold 90 detainees in space for 34, 5 November 2026 . Reports the nationwide and district figures, conditions inside the cells, and the Isotita union's comments.
- Philenews, Minor held with adult inmates at overcrowded Limassol centre, 13 August 2026 . Reports the National Preventive Mechanism's July visit and its finding of 58 detainees against a capacity of 34.