JUSTICE Minister Nicos Koshis yesterday avoided commenting on the contents of the letter of resignation from Prison Governor Haris Themistocleous, submitted on Thursday following a protracted confrontation.
Koshis said he had received the letter yesterday morning from the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Lazaros Savvides and that he would have studied it later in the day.
Themistocleous’ resignation followed a letter from Savvides, which effectively gagged him by forbidding him to speak to the media unless he had official clearance.
The outspoken criminologist and former military intelligence officer, known for his no-nonsense approach on prison issues, had been expected to resign for some time now.
Yesterday, Koshis avoided commenting on what was already an open secret: that Themistocleous had resigned because of the rift with the ministry.
“I don’t want to comment; I said what I had to say before,” Koshis said.
He added: “Now we have a letter before us that we’ll send to the Civil Service.”
Koshis did not comment on the contents of the letter, but told reporters he was saddened by Themistocleous’ decision.
“Of course it saddens me; but it’s not me who decides.
“He decided,” Koshis added.
Themistocleous also refused to reveal the contents of his letter, when contacted by the Cyprus Mail.
“It would be unethical,” he said.
He said, however, he had been driven to the decision to preserve his dignity and principles.
There was much speculation yesterday as to what led the governor to resign, with people close to him saying he could no longer work under the current circumstances.
Those sources questioned the motives behind the ministry’s decision to gag him, arguing that the things he was accused of telling the media had been already discussed in detail before the relevant House committees, which were open to journalists.
The ministry at the time denied gagging Themistocleous, claiming it had merely pointed out the procedures to be followed when speaking to the media, which meant clearing his answers with superiors first.
The ministry failed to mention that the letter they had sent included a paragraph telling Themistocleous that he was not allowed to express his “thoughts or views” on issues pertaining to the prison.
Reports said Themistocleous had replied with his own letter, sent through his lawyer, in which he challenged the ministry to charge him and put him on trial if he had revealed sensitive information, or then withdraw the gagging order and stop accusing him of things he had not done.
Since his appointment in January 2000, Themistocleous has consistently argued for prison reform, saying it lacked aftercare for released inmates and parole officers and boards to help them reintegrate into society.
However, a source close to the outgoing governor told the Cyprus Mail that Themistocleous had apparently been stepping on toes while trying to improve the island’s only correctional facility.
“He tried to introduce merit; he did things strictly by the book and refused to do any favours,” the source said.
“It seems people find it hard to understand that concept.”
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
