DEPUTY prison governor Giorgos Tryfonides was yesterday indignant at the ombudswoman’s call to withdraw an order forcing inmates to cut their hair and shave.
The ombudswoman, Elisa Savvidou, formally submitted a recommendation to the Justice Minister and prison governor maintaining that the order violates inmates’ human rights and is a degrading way to treat them.
Tryfonides was obviously irritated when he was asked whether he was going to withdraw the order during an interview yesterday on CyBC radio.
“I am applying the law… and will not allow anyone to accuse me that I am torturing and humiliating people,” he said maintaining that the law gave him the authority to “take added measures to maintain personal hygiene.”
He got angry when the journalist interviewing him asked why prisoners should trim their hair by force.
“But why do you say ‘by force’,” Tryfonides asked accusing the journalist of putting words in his mouth.
“It was suggested to some that they should shave and get a haircut and they did so,” Tryfonides said.
“The way we’re going about things,” Tryfonides added, “we will soon be told that it’s humiliating for criminals to be imprisoned.”
Tryfonides evaded answering whether the Justice Minister had asked him to withdraw the order but took up issue with the ombudswoman’s publication of her report.
He asked what the point was to have a meeting with the ombudswoman’s office given that she published her report anyway.
“Now all newspapers are preoccupied with this, making ironic remarks” he complained adding that this was tantamount to telling “the prisoners to be disobedient towards their director.”
Ombudswoman Elisa Savvidou disagreed with Tryfonides on the legality of his actions adding that the existence of the order alongside the threat of isolation in case it was not obeyed “left her no choice but to examine the issue”.
Savvidou said she released the report to the media after individual requests from journalists forcing her to prepare a press release since “under no circumstances” would she make the report available to only a few.
All relevant parties will be meeting to discuss the issue on July 1, Savvidou said.
