Newsroom
A bitter public feud between the Justice Ministry and Cyprus' prison guards has escalated, with the prison guards' union ISOTITA accusing Justice Minister Kostas Fytiris of giving contradictory explanations about why he refused to meet union representatives during a recent visit to the Central Prisons.
The union claims the minister first hid behind one excuse, then admitted something entirely different during a television interview.
According to ISOTITA, the Justice Ministry issued an official statement on Tuesday saying a meeting with the union could not take place because both the union's president and secretary were absent during the minister's visit.
But the union insists that was never true.
It says five members of its leadership, including the secretary, were on duty inside the prison at the time, making the ministry's explanation false.
The dispute intensified after Fytiris appeared on television on Wednesday, where, according to the union, he openly acknowledged that he does not take the union's letters into account, will continue not to do so, and has no intention of meeting its representatives.
For ISOTITA, that admission changes everything.
The union argues the issue is no longer whether its officials were available but that the minister had already decided he would not engage with them.
"Within 24 hours there were two official versions," the union said in a strongly worded statement. "Either the union was absent, or the minister had already decided he would not meet us. Both cannot be true."
'The problem isn't our signatures'
The dispute also centers on correspondence sent by the union.
Fytiris reportedly argued that the union's letters could not be treated as official because they did not carry the personal signatures of its president and secretary.
ISOTITA rejects that argument, saying its letters are issued by its officially elected governing body and sent from the union's official email address, making them legally valid.
The union argues that the minister is trying to impose his own conditions on how an independent trade union should operate, accusing him of placing himself "above the law, institutions, and European practice."
Appeal to President Christodoulides
The prison guards have now taken the dispute beyond the Justice Ministry, directly appealing to President Nikos Christodoulides.
They questioned how the president can tolerate what they describe as a minister publicly contradicting himself while misleading the public.
ISOTITA also said it has already added the minister's televised interview and transcript to complaints it has filed with European and international bodies, claiming they support its allegations of institutional exclusion.
Ending on a defiant note, the union said it "has never been silenced and never will be," insisting prison guards deserve respect for their work, their safety, and their right to collective representation.
The Justice Ministry has not publicly responded to the union's latest allegations.
