Further, several persons complained that they were not able to contact a lawyer throughout the entire period of their police custody. Access to a lawyer often remained theoretical and illusory, especially for those who did not have the financial means to pay for the services of a lawyer. The provision of legal advice for issues related to detention and deportation was generally inadequate in all places of detention visited, including the pre-removal detention centres. This fact was also acknowledged by the Greek authorities during the end-of-visit talks held on 1 December 2023 in Athens. On this occasion, the CPT was informed that negotiations were ongoing at EU level to allow for the provision free of charge of legal aid services for foreign nationals deprived of their liberty under immigration legislation. As regards access to a doctor, it remained the case that detained persons were only transferred to a hospital in emergency situations. Many persons claimed that they had not been granted access to a doctor despite their repeated requests to be provided with medical assistance. 42. The CPT calls upon the Greek authorities once again to ensure that all foreign nationals who are deprived of their liberty under immigration legislation are granted the rights to notify a relative or a third person of their detention, and to have access to a lawyer and to a doctor, and that they are placed in a position to effectively exercise these rights as from the very outset of their deprivation of liberty. Further, these fundamental safeguards should always be recorded in a dedicated register. The right of access to a lawyer should include the right to have access to legal advice as well as the right to benefit from access to free legal aid. To this end, the CPT recommends that a list of lawyers and legal NGOs be provided in the accommodation units of the PRDCs. Further, the CPT recommends that the Greek authorities establish a system of duty lawyers to ensure the right to access to a lawyer is rendered more effective in practice. Ideally an “in-person duty lawyer scheme” should be set up, where lawyers come to the pre-removal detention centre on a rotational basis, or at least are available by telephone at set times. 43. As regards contact with the outside world, most foreign nationals deprived of their liberty could receive in-person visits from their families or friends in all pre-removal detention centres visited. In addition, pay phones were also available. The use of mobile phones (with camera) was authorised in Corinth and Xanthi PRDCs, all closed controlled access centres and in the reception and identification centre visited and some of the centres also provided access to WI-FI. This is positive and the possibility to use mobile phones should be extended to all establishments. In Fylakio, Kos and Paranesti PRDCs and in Drapetsona Police Station, detained persons could use or access their mobile phones provided they were not equipped with cameras (access was granted for several hours in the latter facility and a sticker was placed in front of the camera). In this regard, the practice of destroying the cameras of mobile phones with a hammer and a nail should be ended at Kos PRDC. In contrast, the use of mobile phones was prohibited at Tavros (Petrou Ralli) PRDC and at Athens Airport special holding facility. For instance, several persons met by the delegation in the section for asylum seekers at the latter facility complained that they had not been given the opportunity to collect the phone numbers of their relatives as they had been refused access to their mobile phone. There is no justification for the Hellenic Police to prohibit foreign nationals’ access to their mobile phones in these facilities. Moreover, the CPT considers that it would be desirable to offer all indigent foreign nationals without the means to buy phone cards, and who do not have access to a mobile phone, the possibility to maintain contact with their families and other persons, including abroad, by using modern technology, such as free-of-charge Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. 44. The CPT recommends that the Greek authorities extend the possibility to keep, or at least have regular and frequent access to, their own mobile phones to all establishments where foreign nationals deprived of their liberty under immigration legislation are held, and particularly to Tavros (Petrou Ralli) PRDC and to asylum seekers at Athens Airport special holding facility. It also invites the authorities to consider introducing the possibility for all detained foreign nationals to make free-of-charge videoconference calls via Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP). Further, the CPT wishes to be informed on the rationale for having different policies when it comes to the use of mobile phones with cameras in Greek PRDCs. 15