Prisons in Crete and the Heraklion Detention Centre

Foreword: I had never in my 76 years of life on this planet been to prison, or been even close to being sentenced for any wrong doing or misdemeanour. I did have one rather shameful drunk driving episode in the UK when I was in my 30s – so 40 years previously.

But the Greek legal system changed all that, and I spent four months of my life between August and December 2025 being incarcerated in three facilities on the island of Crete. This post is not about the “whys” and “wherefores”, which are covered by other posts in this blog, but specifically about my experiences and recollections of the two prisons and particularly the detention centre I was confined in.

There is a huge  difference between the facilities and living conditions  in the two prisons mentioned below – both of  which I assume meet international standards – and the Holding Cells in the basement of the Heraklion central police station  (supposedly a temporary Holding Facility for felonies and misdemeanours, but used as a Detention Centre) which in my opinion do not meet those international standards. 

The Prisons are run exclusively by Prison Guards – Filaka – whereas the Detention Centre was run by the Heraklion Police Department.

I am pretty sure that this particular job at the Heraklion Police Department – playing nursemaid to an unruly group of young men who speak little or no Greek and are from third world countries , mainly Africa and the Middle East – is highly unpopular with police officers, as can be seen from my comments below.

•  Alikarnassos Prison – Heraklion (5 weeks).This prison houses about 300 inmates,from all walks of life – drug dealers, murderers, “political” prisoners and more. When you first arrive, you are strip searched, and all your possessions checked by the guards. Mobile phones, credit cards and anything that could be used as a weapon are removed. Any money is counted, and logged in your account in the admin office. You are asked if you want to convert some of the cash into “markers” – which are used as common currency inside the prison (coloured  discs). You then collect whatever posessions you are left with and told your cell number. Next, you are released from the admin centre into the main prison area, where you need to locate your  cell and move in – there is no escort, and you are expected to work it out for yourself, which can be difficult if your knowledge of Greek is limited. Once outside the admin or office area, there are guardposts with controlled points of entry into the various parts of the prison, which include the main cellblocks, library, medical centre and kitchen areas. In the cells, beds are metal and stacked “army barracks” style. A cell will consist of up to three people, and has a private toilet/shower and basic facilities. TV is available at a cost. Cells are opened at about 8 a.m. and locked from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and after 8 p.m. for the night.  Guards will count the number of prisoners in each cell on a regular basis and before opening the cells at the prescribed times – the “peep-hole” in every cell door needs to be kept unobstructed. A tannoy system is employed to communicate with prisoners: being close to the main airport, there is a huge amount of noise from aircraft, which can make talking on the various payphones and hearing tannoy announcements pretty challenging. Meals are provided at lunchtimes and late afternoon/early evening, and have to be collected from the kitchen area on the ground floors. There are hotplates available in the common areas outside the cells for private cooking, as well as fridges (at a cost). It is up to the cell occupants to ensure that bedbugs are controlled or eliminated and to keep cells tidy and clean:  rubbish bags are provided outside the cells and are located in the washroom area which provides toilets and showers (with hot water). Forms have to be completed and left in special “post” boxes to order things like tobacco (Mondays) and other items (Wednesdays) payment for which is taken from your “account” held in the central office. These can then be collected from the local “store” run by one of the prisoners. Prisoners can apply for work – such as assisting in the kitchen, or general cleaning duties and rubbish clearance – which counts toward a reduction in time served. There is a large outside courtyard for exercise purposes, and growing plants, vegetables etc. together with a work-out area and basket ball court. The local barter “currency” is, as for most prisons, tobacco, sugar and (when I was there) ice. The most common topic of conversation between prisoners is food. Everything could be provided at a price – including mobile phones (with internet access) and drugs. Some prisoners had a certain “status” and had extra privileges.
• Agia Farm Prison Chania (one week). Located to the south of Chania not far from the main hospital, this prison operated in a similar way to Alikarnassos – the main difference being that it was split into various categories of prisoner, so one block would be for Albanians, another for Greeks etc. From memory I was put into the Alpha block, which mainly housed Greeks.  My block had about 7 cells, each having up to four occupants, with facilities and conditions similar to Alikarnassos. Directly outside the cells, there was a common area with seating, and in an adjacent room, a workout area with table tennis table and a canteen where one could buy drinks and basic food items. There was also an enclosed outdoor courtyard with basketball “hoops”, which was used for football games – benches were available for seating. The same style of Tannoy system was in use, but was pretty inaudible. As I was in this prison for only one week, I did not have the opportunity to get to know the routine as well as I did for Alikarnassos, Heraklion.
• Central Heraklion Police Department – Detention Centre. (11 weeks) As described in a previous post, this “facility”, located in the basement of the main police building, was designed as a Holding facility for those awaiting trial for various  criminal offences – in my time there, the criminal offences logged were mainly Domestic Violence and Drug Offences of one type or another. This category of detainee spends no more than a few days in the facility, either awaiting trial or – if convicted – awaiting transportation to a proper prison. However, the Greek Immigration authorities – based in the same building – use this place as a long term detention centre for “would be” immigrants who do not have valid residency or work permits. In these cases, the detention period is not a few days – it can be six months or more.
• On entering the detention area, the police office is on the left: there are normally 2 or 3 police offices on duty, with two or three daily shifts. From here they control the automatic locks of the main entry gates and the individual locks of every cell door. They have monitors showing security camera footage in the corridors adjoining the main cellblock.
• Attached to the police office is a store-room where the personal possessions of the detainees are stored. They also keep and control various medication for prisoners and pharmaceutical items. No pills are allowed in the cells.
• Directly opposite the police office are two additional secure “rooms” which each house two cells independently from the main block. These are used for special cases – such as women prisoners, or underage detainees.
• The locked main gate leading to  the corridor in use in the main block is a few metres from the police office, and from this gate, the police shout out instructions and messages to the inmates. In the same way, inmates try to communicate with police for  information, medication or reporting a personal problem or trying to get their cell door unlocked for toilet access – mainly without success. I gave up trying to obtain my prison  prescribed medication for high blood pressure after a few days.
• There  are seven cells A1, A2 etc up to A7. A1 has 10 bed spaces, the other six having 7 beds each. I was in this main block, and spent time in A1 and A5. Two corridors run either side of these cells, but only the one corridor which has access to the communal  latrines (3 working) and showers (4) and the main gate can be accessed from each cell.
• Each cell has a door with bars which can be locked or open depending on the time of day and the whim of the police on duty. Cleaning occurs twice daily and meals are also delivered twice daily except for Sundays, requiring that the cells are locked at these times.
• Vending Machine –  Between the main gate and the Police office was a vending machine operated by one of the “inmates” – this was a job highly prized, as the operator assisted the police in other duties and had certain privileges awarded – such as use of a mobile phone. On sale were hot drinks, tobacco and some basic food items, and money exchanged hands through the bars of the main gate. This worked well for those who had money, but also caused resentment for those not so fortunate. 
• Free Meals – lunchtime and early evening – were delivered from outside in containers and were generally adequate, although there were cases of unfair distribution. I always had in mind the image of animals at the zoo being fed through the bars of their cages – very similar. The best meal of rhe week was delivered on Sundays courtesy of the Church (Greek Orthodox? – I never found out) which consisted of a portion of chicken on a bed of macaroni, with fresh bread. On this same day, we each received the princely sum of 5.80 euros which we could use to order in an evening meal from outside.
• Each cell possesses a number of concrete beds, with one mattress and blanket supplied, and about 1 metre apart. Iron bars prevent further access to either corridor. Inside the cells, there is no lighting or any power points – just bare walls. Possessions are kept in plastic bags beside the bed, and anything valuable (money, phonecards, tobacco etc.) are at all times kept on your person.
• Outside the cells, in the connecting corridor, there are no seating areas anywhere, no TV, no access to any “news” and the only communications allowed are outgoing phonecalls on Payphones (only one of which was working in my time there)
• There are no views, no windows, and no access to the outside for exercise or fresh air.
• The communal toilets are very basic and often not clean: the shower facilities are not private and there is no hot water.
• At night, powerful lights – from the corridor not in use – light up the cells and make sleep very difficult.
• Shouting matches between angry police officers and inmates were frequent, leading to the indiscriminate locking of cells, and in some cases, physical violence.
• There were many cases of bullying and fighting between inmates – usually because of a theft of some item such as a phonecard or tobacco – but there was usually no intervention by the police on duty.
• There was constant noise, and shouting up until 2 a.m. every day, and when it was quieter, normal conversations could be heard anywhere, making life very stressful.
• Sleep was often disturbed by unwanted night-time visits or a new arrival to the cells – for example, drunks on a Saturday night. Even worse than sleep deprivation were the bedbugs – blood sucking little insects that emitted a bad smell when squashed. Every cell was infected with them, and together with attacks from silent mosquitoes, every inmate spent hours scratching at the bites. No medication was allowed, and no effective measures taken to fumigate the cells.