Arsonist jailed for five years

A 22-YEAR-old Pakistani asylum seeker was yesterday sentenced to five years in jail after being found guilty of a string of arsons in the old town of Nicosia last summer.

Ali Haq was detained in July 2004 after he was seen wandering suspiciously in the old town in the wake of two fires – one in a derelict house, the other in a bus – 200 metres from each other.

He later confessed to setting several fires in the old town in previous weeks.

Haq said he got paid £20 to £30 for each fire and that he did it together with a compatriot who was never arrested.

The total cost of the damage was £15,000.

The owners of the property were never compensated.

Haq arrived on the island as a student in October 2001 but his studies were interrupted for financial reasons after eight months.

He filed an application for asylum and started working on construction sites.
Yiannakis Mylonas, defending, stressed his client’s co-operation with the authorities.
Mylonas said his client was the last ring in the chain of arsons and that the real masterminds remained at large.

The defence stressed that the arsons had a purpose in a bid to differentiate the case from other cases in which the perpetrators were pyromaniacs whose long incarceration was justified to keep them from repeating the offences.

The court stressed the seriousness of the offence, which carried a maximum sentence of 14 years.

“The fact does not reduce the seriousness of the offence since the 14-year imprisonment represented the seriousness with which the lawmaker approached the specific offence,” the court said.

The court said it was very concerned by the fact that the defendant was paid, even with the “humiliating” amount of £20 to £30.

“And this because he represents a weak personality who sets fires and destroys property for such a small amount without caring about the serious consequences of his actions,” the court said.

The court, however, did take into consideration the fact that Haq played a secondary role in the case.

Haq was sentenced to five years in jail on each of four charges.

The terms would run concurrently starting from July last year.

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