connection with the community, support and staffing of the school that was underfunctioning, and implementation of vocational training programmes in cooperation with the relevant bar association. General Detention Facilities The NPM, in 2015, made a series of visits / on-site inspections in General Detention Facilities. In particular, except for the three Rural Prisons (Kassandra, Tirintha and Agia, see above), teams from the NPM visited the Detention Facilities of Komotini on 25 June, Nafplio on 28 April, Kos on 24 June and Chania (Crete) on 3 December. The problems identified again are, among other things, the overcrowding of the prisoners, shortages in infrastructures and the age of the facilities, problems with the heating of the facilities and the supply of hot water, worn and dirty mattresses with parasitic insects (bedbugs), the lack of any educational or creative activity programme whatsoever, the lack of a rehab programme, shortages in specialised staff, such as medical/nursing personnel, and the deficient or even non-existent in some cases staff in of the Social Service of the Facilities. Even though the situation, in relation to the overcrowding of the prisons, appears to be improved compared to previous years, however, in specific Facilities it is still particularly problematic. A typical example is the Nafplio Detention Facility, where 212 people are forced to sleep on the floor on mattresses, which during the day are placed in an elevated area, in order not to obstruct circulation. The same situation is found in the Kos Detention Facility, where prisoners, in addition to the floor and under the beds, are also sleeping on the roof of the bathrooms inside the cells, something which the Ombudsman has never encountered in the Greek prisons, and which is revealing, in the most dramatic manner, of the problem with the living conditions of the people who are deprived of their liberty. The NPM requested, with a document to the Ministry of Justice, that special attention be demonstrated. With the document of reply with ref. no. 86847/26.11.2015 of the Secretary General for Crime Policy, it emerges that on 16.11.2015 the number of the prisoners had dropped to 137 persons, while on 1 December, according to the official statistics of the Ministry of Justice posted on the interned, their number was 113. Note that the capacity of this facility is 45. Also, in the Komotini Detention Facility, the disciplinary cells which lack natural lighting and ventilation, are used out of necessity as the place of regular and usual stay of the prisoners (in fact according to their wish), due to the overcrowding of the prisoners in the other cells. The Chania (Crete) Detention Facility is new, with much better conditions and infrastructure for a large number of prisoners, there are problems however with staffing, and some wings remain closed to this date. Special concern finally, is caused by the lack of any provision for spaces for sports and related sporting equipment, work positions/spaces (e.g. workshops for iron - wood, etc.) and other areas where the prisoners can be employed and be entertained. Specific issues of a penitentiary interest Conditional release The overcrowding problem of Greek prisons in recent years, in combination with the state's apparent inability to financially meet its obligations and ensure decent living conditions for the prisoners, appears to be the main parameter which has determined and continues to determine the development, interpretation and extent of the institution of conditional release in our country and is essentially interpreted, by all involved parties, as a quasi "pardon", stripping it to a significant degree of its correctional intent. A typical example is the provision introduced for the beneficial calculation of the penalty of criminal prisoners in police station cells with the provisions of Law 4322/2015. This provision may have decisively contributed to eliminating this adverse consequence, however its legislative existence in Article 105 of the Penal Code entails a risk that the phenomenon will be legalised if it reappears, considering that it is now supported by a legislative basis. The Ombudsman's experience has highlighted the chronic problems regarding the deficit in the educational and employment opportunities provided, and the general preparation for the introduction of the prisoners, after their release, in the employment market, a phenomenon which grew especially in recent years. This fact, in combination with the shortages recorded by the Ombudsman, or even the complete absence of a social service and other specialised staff and the existence of an adequate number of repeat offenders, shows that the main goals of the institution regarding conditional release cannot be achieved under the standard terms that are provided for and imposed by the courts, such as the simple prohibition on leaving the country or the appearance at a police station. The NPM has emphatically stressed the need to put as a first priority the reinforcement of the social service of the prisons, as regards staff adequacy and organisation, technical and logistics support aiming at the provision substantial assistance, during the stage shortly before the granting of the conditional release, as well as after it, in cooperation with specific state agencies responsible for this task. 5