Athens, 23.3.06

Ref. No 3087.06.2.1

Information:

Ch. Papacharalambous

Tel.:0030-210-7289805

Mr. Ermir Dobjani,

The People’s Advocate of

ALBANIA,

Boulv: “Deshmoret e Kombit”. No 3,

Tirana – ALBANIA

Dear Colleague,

Concerning the case of the Albanian citizens mentioned in the newspaper “SHEKULLI” you are referring to in your letter Ref No 3087/27.2.06 addressed to us, I would like to bring to your attention the following points:

(a). We are not authorized to control judicial decisions (art. 3 para 2 of the Law 3094/2003). Insofar as we cannot involve ourselves in eventual problems or other issues arising out of such decisions, such as the sentences imposed.

(b). As long as the issue of extradition or transfer of prisoners is concerned there are certain procedures provided for, which have to be followed from the Albanian side in the first place; when this stage is completed (applications, required notifications etc.) and the problems remain (disapproval by the Greek side), we can consider the case anew as to the possible scope of our competence, as long as we have been adequately informed thereupon.

(c). From your letter we have no concrete information on the alleged mistreatment or racist conduct against Albanian citizens detained in the Malandrino Correctional Institution. Especially with regard to the separation of alien convicts, we must advise that such is the practice followed by the directors of the Greek prisons for the sake of the facilitation of communication among detainees of the same national origin. As to the permissions to temporarily leave the prison, we must inform you that the respective difficulty arises out of the fact that in many cases there is a suspicion that the detainee will not return; this suspicion concerns mostly alien detainees, because they don’t have a permanent residence in Greece. We do consider this as an important issue to be formally addressed and we are working on it at this very moment. Further, it can hardly be the case that circulars or instructions for the separation have been issued by the Ministry for Public Order, as the complaining citizens argue; the issuing of such documents fall under the competence of the Ministry of Justice.

In general, we would inform you that on this occasion, a team of our experts recently visited the prison; in the report it is clearly stated that discriminations against foreigners have not been confirmed.  However, I assure you that a letter will be addressed to the persons in charge of this prison with the aim of fully clarifying the conditions of detention of your citizens there.

I thank you very much for your letter and remain,

   Yours sincerely,

  Yorgos Kaminis