The case of the 45-year-old citizen from the free area of Famagusta was sentenced to 35 days in prison by the Court of Appeals, because he was caught in quarantine going to his girlfriend.
According to today's post of the newspaper "Phileleftheros", the 35-year-old, who two days after being sent to prison was awarded a presidential pardon, had filed an appeal both against his sentence and against the sentence. The Court of Appeals ruled that his conviction was correct, although it found errors in the indictment, however, it ruled that the sentence was excessive and even made recommendations to the judges.
The 35-year-old was reported on 25/3/2020 because he was trafficked without the necessary supporting documents during quarantine. The police officer who reported him had told the court that all he showed him was his identity card, while the 35-year-old had stated that he was going to his girlfriend and that he had shown him a relevant certificate for exceptional trafficking.
His lawyer claimed in the Court of Appeals that the court of first instance found him guilty of an offense not provided for by any law or decree. The Court of Appeal disagreed with this position, after finding that the Regulations were creating an offense. They prohibited unnecessary travel, which was identified in contrast to the cases of exhaustively defined travel that were excluded from the essentially general ban. The court also found that the charge against the 35-year-old had not been drafted in the best possible way.
The Court of Appeal also disagreed with the position of the ombudsman that the disputed decree concerned the travel until 13.4.2020 and although a new one was issued and it expired on 21.5.2020, "it did not even contain the element of paradigm", ie it would not serve this direction. "We have judicial knowledge of the situation that prevailed at the time when the court of first instance was called to impose a sentence on the appellant. Relaxations in the measures had been made, but the circumstances that imposed the issuance of the Decree were anything but outdated and remain lurking until today.
It is precisely the measures that were taken and implemented with regulations such as the disputed Decree and the public compliance with them responsibly and conscientiously, but also for some for fear of punishment, who stopped the spread of the coronavirus in Cyprus. The element of general deterrence was not only not weakened, but it was strong and we do not disagree with the approach of the court of first instance that in order to play their important role in society, but also to send the right messages, the Courts had to impose, under the given conditions, strict and deterrent punishments ".
However, the Court of Appeals recommends to the Courts when they are oriented to impose a prison sentence, to suspend their decision the day after tomorrow, so that they have time to reflect. The appellant could be fined, which was such that on the one hand he would punish himself and on the other hand he would act as a deterrent to the general public, it is reported. The choice of imprisonment, as a manifestly wrong choice, is set aside. Because he remained in prison for only two days, it was decided not to impose another sentence.
Source: Liberal