The government has already decided to extend the electronic monitoring program with “bracelets” to illegal immigrants, a measure that has been implemented on a pilot basis for about ten years and is now moving towards upgrading and modernization to deliver substantial results.
The problems that had been identified are being addressed gradually, while the political will from the Prime Minister’s Office for implementing the measure remains strong. The effort aims to strengthen legality and security in public spaces. The new, ambitious plan now includes extending electronic monitoring not only to prisoners, but also to perpetrators of domestic violence and illegal immigrants.
Electronic monitoring bracelets coming for illegal immigrants
As reported in the newspaper “Apogeumantini”, the Minister of Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, has recently been strongly emphasizing the need for extensive use of electronic monitoring “bracelets”. His goal is to apply them to those who have received negative asylum decisions and do not leave the country immediately, although so far the effectiveness of the measure has not been proven. The recent draft law for illegal immigrants even provides for the imposition of electronic monitoring as a restrictive measure during the voluntary departure deadline.
Before publicly announcing his decision, Mr. Plevris had received assurances from his colleagues – Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis and Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis – who coordinate efforts to achieve substantial results. It should be noted that the first to have pre-announced the use of “bracelets” for non-imprisoned individuals was Mr. Floridis in June 2024, proposing electronic monitoring for those under supervision due to domestic violence.
Final implementation phase of the plan
As the needs for electronic monitoring increase and some ministers proceed with public pre-announcements, it appears that this year we are entering the final implementation phase of the plan. Mr. Chrysochoidis himself has undertaken methodical and almost silent work, as his actions, although visible through transparency portals, draft laws and statements, are scattered across various time points and must be combined to capture the complete picture. In this context, more prisoners will be included in remote monitoring regimes, while electronic surveillance now extends to perpetrators of domestic violence.
Chrysochoidis on electronic bracelets: Very important achievement that we must now implement massively
In March 2025, speaking about the bill that restructures the Hellenic Police, Mr. Chrysochoidis emphasized the importance of the “bracelet”, characterizing it as “a very important achievement that we must now implement massively”. He added that “after the law is passed, very quickly there will be the possibility of implementing the ‘bracelet'”. In practice, the bill provides for the first substantial moves: the electronic monitoring institution extends throughout the territory, on a permanent basis and not as a pilot, while monitored persons are exempted from the system’s implementation costs, enhancing accessibility and process effectiveness.
Two months later, on June 12, 2025, the Joint Ministerial Decision of the Ministers of Citizen Protection and Digital Governance was published in the Government Gazette, regulating technical issues and details for implementing the Electronic Monitoring System (Official Gazette B’/2812/6-6-2025). The decision establishes rules for the proper and effective operation of the Electronic Monitoring System for defendants, convicts and prisoners on leave, while ensuring the rights of those being monitored.
On July 10, 2025, a discussion took place in Parliament’s plenary session on the articles and entirety of the draft law concerning the reform of the framework for professional training of employees handling public contracts, preparation and assignment of public contracts, legal protection in the public contracts sector, the national quality infrastructure framework and the establishment, expansion and modernization of manufacturing activities in the Attica Region. Less than a month later, on July 7, 2025, a new Joint Ministerial Decision was published in the Government Gazette for payment of up to €426,889.72 to the contractor company for electronic monitoring services for defendants, convicts and prisoners on leave provided from 1/12/2022 to 31/12/2024.
In July 2025, on the 29th of the month, an international electronic open tender was announced for selecting a contractor to provide Electronic Monitoring services (CPV 79714000-2) for defendants, convicts and prisoners on leave for 2026 and 2027, with a total budget of €7,106,550 (including 24% VAT), meaning €3,553,275 per year. The deadline for submitting offers was set for 28/8/2025 and their opening for 2/9/2025.
Government’s intention to fully implement the institution is evident
Compared to previous years, when annual amounts ranged around €240,000 (with 24% VAT), the new amount shows the government’s intention to fully implement the institution. Combined with pre-announced reductions in daily costs for “bracelets”, substantial but controlled prison decongestion is expected, unlike the uncontrolled situation observed under the SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government.
The economic dimension of controlled release had already been highlighted in 2015. In April of that year, then Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos introduced Law 4322/2015 aimed at prison decongestion, allowing thousands of prisoners to exit without exception, including approximately 200 convicted of serious crimes. In 2016, he had stated that “imprisonment is costly”, presenting Justice Ministry data showing that the average daily imprisonment cost in 2014 was €28.18, while the annual cost per prisoner amounted to €10,287.49.
Nikos Paraskevopoulos had also referred to controlled release with “bracelets”, admitting that the initiative did not have great acceptance among prisoners: only three of them used the measure and could be found earlier, under specific conditions, with their families. The situation remained relatively stagnant in subsequent years: in 2020 about 15 prisoners had “bracelets”, while according to PASOK data, in 2022 only five prisoners had the measure applied, and in 2024 those monitored with “bracelets” did not exceed 30.
Gradually, the government began setting a goal to reduce the device’s daily cost to €8, in order to increase acceptance of home sentence serving. In December 2023, Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis announced the expansion of electronic monitoring measures and reduction of “bracelet” costs. The same issue was repeated about six months later, on 17/5/2024, by prosecutor Aikaterini Bartzakli at a judicial officials training seminar. As she noted, a new contract is being prepared that will reduce electronic monitoring costs from €15 daily to €8, with payment by the state, to provide incentives for broader application of home sentence serving.
The incentive of cost reduction for the public sector
The amount paid today is considerably smaller, as the “bracelet” costs €12.92 per day. However, her information was accurate regarding the intention to reduce costs, as Mr. Floridis had pre-announced it. Since there has been a pre-announcement by the Justice Minister, the cost will likely fall below €10, while any other development would be disappointing, even if there is a smaller reduction, especially if there is no change. If Ms. Bartzakli’s information is accurate regarding the new cost, meaning it will be eight euros, then it will be a great success for the government.
In any case, if the average daily imprisonment cost in the country’s prisons still amounts to around €28, the decision for the state to bear the cost should have been made years ago. Even if the cost the state will bear for the “bracelet” is €12.92 per day, the amount reaches €387.6 per month, while with imprisonment costs at €28 the amount rises to €840 per month! That is, for every 100 people the public sector pays €84,000 per month, while if these people were in controlled release with “bracelets” the amount would be limited to €38,760 per month.
