Electronic tagging

Greek Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis announced on Thursday a series of amendments and additional provisions aimed at tackling a rising number of incidents of domestic violence.

Four jailed members of the now-defunct Greek terrorist group November 17, including leader Alexandros Giotopoulos, will be able to apply as of Tuesday for a prison release under conditions, due to the provisions of the new penal code which took effect on July 1.

In October, the Justice Ministry will finally have electronic bracelets for monitoring, Mediapool reports.

A total of 200 bracelets with GPS surveillance with a precision of 2.5 m, and the remaining 50 aim to control inmates in open spaces.

The Justice Ministry submitted an amendment to Parliament Tuesday that will allow prisoners convicted of a range of offenses to be granted conditional release from jail as long as they wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

Greek authorities feared a backlash on Wednesday following an Athens prosecutor?s proposal that a request by anarchist and convicted robber Nikos Romanos asking that he be allowed to attend classes at an Athens technical college (TEI) wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet be rejected.

Greece is ready to launch a pilot scheme that will allow 250 prisoners to leave prison early over the next 18 months as long as they wear an electronic tag on their ankles so that authorities can monitor their movements.

Prison doors soon open for 1,700-1,950 inmates at Greek jails thanks to a draft bill that will be voted in Parliament this week. The bill, drafted by Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos, allows for the home surveillance of prisoners using an electronic bracelet.

The aged, disabled or minors will be amongst the groups who can enter the program that facilitates house arrest.

Bulgaria's judicial authorities plan to introduce electronic tagging of criminal offenders put under house arrest, a prison system official said on Tuesday.

Currently, the electronic monitoring devices are used to track the movement of convicts sentenced to prison terms and released on probation, Valentina Karaganova, head of the project, told Nova TV station on Tuesday.