638515
Testimony- Testimony collected by
- Border Violence Monitoring Network
- Date and location recorded
- 5th April 2023, Thessaloniki, Northern Greece
- Detention centre related
- Detention Centre Country
- Greece 2
- Duration of detention
- 6 - 12 months
- Nationality
- Morocco
- Age
- 24
- Gender
- Male
- LGBTQI
- No answer
- Type of arrest
- Mass/sweep
- Why was the respondent detained?
- Unknown
- Detained before?
- Yes, in a police station
- Was the respondent informed of the duration of detention?
- No
- Did the respondent experience any violence?
- Yes
- Type of violence experienced
- Forced medication
- Forced undressing
- Hate speech
- Medical neglect
- Strip search
- Verbal insult
- Was the respondent forced to sign documents?
- Unknown
- Did the respondent have access to translation?
- Yes, in a police station
- Did the respondent have access to medical aid?
- Yes
- Did the respondent have access to NGOs?
- Unknown
- Did the respondent have access to legal support?
- Private lawyer
- Did the respondent apply for asylum?
- Yes
- Appealed?
- Unknown
- Number detained in cell
- 10+
- Number detainees sharing WC
- Unknown
- Hygiene rating
- Unknown
- Type of cell
- Unknown
- Had access to phone?
- Yes, own
- Had access to WiFi?
- No
- Ventilation
- None
- Participated in hunger strike / protest?
- Unknown
- Had conflicts with other detainees?
- Witnessed
- Meal quality
- Very poor
- Meal quantity
- 2 per day, in PRDC
- Had access to water?
- Tap
- Had access to outdoor space?
- Unknown
- Had access to educational resources?
- Unknown
- Had access to religious space?
- Unknown
- Had access to electricity?
- Unknown
- Had access to bed?
- Yes
- Had access to laundry?
- Unknown
- Had access to toilet articles?
- None
- Had access to mattress?
- Individual
- Narrative
The respondent is a 24-year-old man from Morocco. He was detained in Katerini police station for 37 days and subsequently transferred to Paranesti Pre-Removal Detention Centre (PRDC), where he was detained for a further five months. At Katerini police station, he was reportedly searched by officers and his personal belongings were confiscated. Furthermore, his personal details were taken including fingerprints, photograph, and full name. The respondent reported that he was not provided with any information on the asylum procedure. He explained that he was detained in a cell with other 20 men aged between 17 and 30 from Pakistan, India, Morocco and Afghanistan. There was reportedly no Urdu translator at the facility. The respondent was provided with a mattress, but he explained that there were not enough blankets and that there was no heating system in the cell. Furthermore, he reported that food, drinking water, and basic hygiene items were not provided. He was offered five euros per day to buy goods from a vendor at the police station but these were reportedly expensive. The respondent added that the detainees were subjected to verbal abuse by the officers working at the facility: “They were insulting all of us. They were racist, that’s why they were insulting all of us.” During his detention, the respondent was reportedly taken to a hospital where he received an injection without being informed what this was for. Upon arrival in Paranesti PRDC, the respondent was reportedly searched and he was forced to undress. He was then detained in a cell with 9 other men. The respondent was reportedly provided with two meals per day which he described as poor in quality, and was reportedly denied access to drinking water. The respondent added that the detainees were subjected to physical and verbal abuse by the officers. “If you fight, if the police see you on the cameras, they come, they take you away, they beat you and detain you for 1-2 days, then they put you back in your cell.” The respondent explained that some detainees reportedly beaten by officials at Paranesti PRDC subsequently required medical attention, but they were denied this by the authorities unless their condition was critical.