‘Lazy municipalities lead to fake marriages’

THE SAME people have married different parties at the same town hall two and three times, Justice Minister Doros Theodorou charged yesterday.

The minister was taking a shot at local authorities, which, he suggested, were showing a lackadaisical attitude to marriage procedures and the problem of marriages of convenience.
This made it easier for unscrupulous individuals to carry out fake marriages.

“Some mayors, responded in a provocative way, to our charges that they carry out fake marriages, by telling us to look at the gaps in the legislation instead of dealing with the weddings conducted in town halls,” Theodorou said.

The same people have recently conducted two and three marriages in the same town hall, he added.

The minister was clearly referring to the Aradhippou municipality, which recently poured scorn on after it emerged that a large number of suspicious marriages had taken place there.

“And I wonder: aren’t local leaders part of the state?

“Should other state departments exploit the gaps in the legislation to promote such actions?” he said.

Theodorou said their behaviour was unacceptable: “These gentlemen cannot behave like a different state.”

Aradhippou Mayor Christos Limberis denied the allegations at the time and asked the minister to have more respect for local authorities.

He said his municipality conducted the marriages after all the necessary paperwork had been produced, including a court paper saying the couple was free to wed.

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