Support programme for prison’s addicts

JUSTICE Minister Doros Theodorou yesterday welcomed a court’s decision to create a complete support programme for drug users sentenced to prison terms.

Theodorou said that the programme showed that there was a need to help prisoners who were drug users as well as pushers.

“It is a fact that society has not wanted to accept or face, that there is a drugs problem in Cyprus. This now shows that one of the largest problems is that prisoners are using drugs,” said Theodorou.

The Justice Minister added that over half of the inmates were drug users and mentioned that the Ministry was promoting legislation to provide therapy for prisoners who were dependent.

Regarding foreigners who are in prison on charges of illegal entry to the island, he explained that they couldn’t be deported as they themselves destroy their own documents. Theodorou said they should be placed in a specific place until their identity was known and then they could be deported. He added that proposals would be given to the Cabinet in September.

Questioned about the ex-drug user and smuggler who appeared on television asking for help to overcome his addiction in return for information on the drug trade in Cyprus, Theodorou said that the state had not denied help to anybody but it had to prioritise as there were many drug users wanting to free themselves of their addiction.

He stressed that the police were always willing to help drug users and to co-operate with citizens.
Regarding a man who had been arrested in connection with child pornography on the internet, Theodorou said that such cases were not yet widespread in Cyprus so they would deal with the problem by taking the necessary precautions.

“Child pornography is a fruit that we do not want plucked from its tree in Cyprus and there is a policy not to allow the situation to get out of control,” said Theodorou.

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.