Molàro prison

Calçèr Molàro

Location	Montecara
Status	Operating
Security class	Mixed-security
Capacity	750
Population	1,115 (as of 1 January 2023)
Opened	12 September 1898 (1898-09-12)
Managed by	Secretariat of Defense and Security
Governor	Damàs Bertòn
Street address	Vìa Galèri 20
Website	difseg.go.mc/molaro

Molàro prison (Montecaran: Calçèr Molàro) is the main penal institution in the city-state of Montecara. It is operated under the supervision of the Secretariat of Defense and Security and staffed by members of the Dragoons. It holds convicts as well as those in pre-trial detention and immigration detention. It has separate facilities for male and female detainees.

History

Construction under Gaullican rule

The prison in 1904

Molàro prison was constructed under the Gaullican administration between 1895 and 1898. It is located on the former site of an open-air market in central Montecara and was built over the course of three years, mainly using convict labor. Prisoners quarried the stones themselves and constructed a building that was originally planned to hold approximately 500 prisoners in single-occupant cells.

Before Molàro was built, prisoners were held in a variety of ad-hoc arrangements, including in military brigs, prison ships, and the dungeon of the Doxe's palace. The total capacity of the penal system was only in the dozens to low hundreds at any given time, as convicts were sentences not to long-term incarceration but to forced labor, house arrest, or various forms of overseas exile. As the immigrant population swelled and modern theories of criminology took hold, though, the state found itself in need of a large, permanent facility for inmates.

Etrurian occupation

The prison was used to hold political prisoners and prisoners of war during the Etrurian occupation of Montecara from 1944 to 1946. This period saw extreme overcrowding, with the facility holding more than 6,000 prisoners at times in a facility that was designed for no more than 700. The inhumane conditions endured by inmates remain one of the most bitter memories of the occupation. The Etrurians also executed hundreds of inmates, usually members of the Resistance, at the prison during this period.

Contemporary period

Toilets in cells were added starting in the early 1970s; before this, prisoners had to rely on buckets overnight which had to be emptied in the morning.

In early 2023, the government announced plans to construct new detention facilities and to close Molàro by 2030. The announcement came after the publication of a report by a special committee of the Senate that described unhygenic conditions at the facility, including an ancient plumbing system that occasionally flooded cells with wastewater, infestations of insects and rodents, water damage, and poor ventilation resulting in high humidity and mold growth. The facility is also greatly overcrowded relative to its original design, with inmates doubled up in cells designed for one and bathing facilities that were designed for half the current number of users.

Prison life

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  A typical two-person cell

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  Unit G, currently used for immigration detention

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  A view from the exercise yard

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  Booths used for visits

Life at the prison is generally safe, and the state makes efforts to rehabilitate inmates and reduce the risks they pose to society. Prisoners at Molàro have access to educational opportunities, including the chance to finish secondary school and take university-level courses. Inmates are responsible for most of the prison's day-to-day operations, including cooking meals, cleaning, doing laundry, cutting hair, making repairs, doing administrative and clerical work, and growing fruits and vegetables in the garden. This makes the prison a partially self-sustaining community. They are paid for their work and can use their earnings to buy sundries at the commissary, and can also be sent a limited amount of money by friends or relatives. Under Montecaran law, inmates cannot produce goods for sale outside the prison. Inmates are allowed regular visits and phone calls, and are guaranteed access to their spouses, children, attorneys, religious ministers, and consuls if foreign citizens.

Controversially, prisoners are grouped by religion and ethnic origin. Atudite prisoners are typically assigned to Unit B and Irfanic ones to Unit C. The prison has special facilities for VIPs, which are no more luxurious than normal accommodations but are separate from the general population and are assigned additional security.

Famous inmates

• Thanasis Demetriakis, Piraean junta member arrested in 1998 after having lived in Montecara under an assumed identity for nearly 20 years