Iranians held for illegal entry after trying to come over from the north

TWO IRANIAN students – one just 17 – are being held at the central prisons awaiting trial on charges of illegal entry into the Republic, police confirmed yesterday.
The 17-year-old, who is studying at a college in the north, was arrested on Friday together with an 18-year-old friend after attempting to cross over to the free areas for a visit.

Sources told the Cyprus Mail yesterday the two Iranians had asked the United Nations about crossing for a day trip to the free areas; they were apparently advised to go to the Greek Cypriot police and ask them on the procedure they had to follow.
But when they went to the checkpoint they were immediately arrested for entering Cyprus through an illegal port of entry.

The two students were taken to a police detention centre and later appeared before a Nicosia court, where they were ordered to be remanded in custody pending trial on October 27, and were taken to Nicosia Central Prisons.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday, former Justice Minister Alecos Shiambos said the police had had no choice but to arrest the two Iranians because they had entered the Republic from an illegal port.

“I don’t think the police could have done anything different about it,” he said.
“The legislation is clear, they entered the Republic through an illegal port and they were also studying at an illegal college there.”

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.