Both Cypriots and foreigners are being released from prison on Wednesday on presidential pardon ahead of the August 15 religious holiday of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in an effort to relieve overcrowding.

The justice ministry said those being released were minor offenders who met the criteria and had been placed on a list drafted with the approval of the Law Office.

It added that efforts to reduce the overcrowding of the central prison and police detention cells would continue in compliance with the law and in line with international conventions, fully respecting the rights of the detainees and taking into consideration public safety.

The ministry said procedures were ongoing to repatriate or deport foreign minor offenders, whose asylum applications had been rejected.

Some will be deported immediately, while for others procedures are ongoing.

In February, President Nikos Christodoulides pardoned 11 third-country nationals who had been scheduled for release later this year. They were immediately deported.

In December 2025, the Council of Europe’s committee for the prevention of torture had said that living conditions for inmates at the prison “remain very poor” and are “affected by severe overcrowding”, with overcrowding having reached such an extent that “up to four prisoners” share cells of less than six square metres in area.

In those cells, it said, “two persons are forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor, when such cells are scarcely sufficient for one person”.

On Tuesday, it was reported that overcrowding at the central prison was putting increasing pressure on police detention facilities, with some detainees forced to sleep on floors. Concerns, the media said, were mounting over hygiene, safety and human rights, as in some cases twice as many detainees as allowed were being held in facilities.

An entry made in the Lakatamia police station logbook on Sunday recorded that the number of detainees had reached 77, describing the facility as operating at 110 per cent of capacity and noting that senior police officers were aware of the situation.

As a result of the overcrowding, detainees who would normally be allowed into the exercise yard twice a day are instead being kept in their cells for security reasons, contrary to recommendations by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

The pressure has been compounded by convicted prisoners who should be held at the central prison being transferred to police cells because of overcrowding there.

Head of the police branch of the Isotita trade union, Nicos Loizides, said there were approximately 160 places for detainees in police stations across the island.

He said up to 80 per cent of these were currently occupied by convicted prisoners and people awaiting trial who would normally be held at the central prison.