Cyprus has shortest average length of imprisonment in Europe

Cyprus registered the shortest average length of imprisonment in Europe, only 1.3 months on average, ahead of Switzerland (1.6) and the Netherlands (3.8), a study carried out by the Council of Europe for the year 2019 revealed on Tuesday.

Overall, in Europe the average length of imprisonment was eight months.

Moreover, Cyprus’ rate of imprisonment is below the European average, as around 83 people per 100,000 inhabitants are incarcerated in Cyprus, where the European average stands at 106.

The countries with the highest incarceration rates were Russia (386 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants), Turkey (329), Georgia (270).

However, Cyprus registered an 11 per cent incarceration rate growth last year, the second highest in Europe behind Turkey with 13 per cent.

As far as prison density is concerned, Cyprus registers 98 inmates per 100 places, a higher figure than the European average of 89.5 inmates for every 100 available places in prisons.

The most serious overcrowding figures were registered in Turkey (123), Belgium (121) and Italy (119).

From 2018 to 2019 the proportion of prisoners serving sentences for drug-related offences grew by 5.3 per cent all around Europe and in Cyprus around 28 per cent of all inmates had been convicted for drug-related offences.

The prison administration with the highest proportions of foreign inmates was registered Luxembourg with 74 per cent. In Cyprus, around 44 per cent of inmates are foreigners, way above the 15 per cent European average.

Finally, Cyprus registered a 13.8 per cent suicide rate per 10,000 prisoners, again above the European average that stood at 5.7 per cent.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.