THE Philippines consul has complained to the Ombudswoman that a 48-year old housemaid was injected with valium, spent several days at the psychiatric hospital, jailed and then deported.
Consul John Erotokritou said the woman had been treated like a criminal. “They took her from a clinic and put her under arrest,” he said. “I am waiting to see what the Ombudswoman says, and then I may call the EU Ombudsman because if this continues with these girls we will have trouble with Europe.”
According to Charalambos Kourtoulos, secretary of the Cyprus-Philippines Association, the woman, Leticia Bremon, had been working for her employer for two years without and problems.
However, around the end of April she found out that a friend of hers was in serious trouble, having been arrested for allegedly stealing items from her employer, and Leticia was worried and stressed out about having to be a witness in the case.
She had been with the other woman when the alleged offence took place while cleaning out the house of the second Filipina’s employer, who died recently. They had been asked by a family member to pack the household contents.
Recently, however, a third Filipina reported that Leticia’s friend had allegedly stolen some of the items.
Kourtoulos said Leticia’s employer became concerned about the way she was behaving following the arrest of her friend. Erotokritou, who spoke to the employer, said the woman was worried because Leticia had become somewhat neurotic and she decided to send her back to the Philippines. Leticia then panicked and was taken to Nicosia General Hospital.
“She was given an injection of valium to calm her down,” said Kourtoulos. “The following day she was taken to the airport, where Leticia protested in no uncertain terms, and she ended up in the psychiatric hospital in Latsia.”
He said that after a week, during which Erotokritou visited her twice, doctors established there was nothing wrong with her and that she was free to go.
“On leaving the hospital in Latsia, Leticia was arrested by immigration and put in jail in Lakatamia,” said Kourtoulos. “She could not understand why she was being treated this way.”
He said the Association then got in touch with the Justice Ministry, who contacted CID and persuaded Leticia to make another statement on her friend’s case, saying she did not know the girl who had been charged with the alleged theft.
Kourtoulos said Erotokritou had written twice to the CID, protesting that Leticia should be allowed to remain in Cyprus to testify at her friend’s trial. However, by May 26, she had already been deported.
“The only thing Leticia was guilty of was caring about her friend. Why did they rush to send her back?” said Kourtoulos. “In the last few weeks Leticia was forced to spend her last days in Cyprus in a mental hospital and a jail cell. Cypriots are always talking about their human rights but they forget the human rights of other people. The police here have to learn that you can’t just pack up your problems and send them out of the country by any means. We wanted to be in Europe and it’s time to start acting like Europeans and not some tin pot country.”
