Six years for drug-dealing lawyer

A 29-YEAR-old lawyer from Limassol, Fotis Theoclytou was yesterday sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for drug dealing and possession.

“Instead of standing on the stand of Justice, fighting crime and corruption, he stands on the defendant’s stand,” the Criminal Court judge stated passing the sentence.

The 29-year-old was arrested on March 21, after a police raid on his Limassol office, following a tip off by an informant. On the night of the raid, officers of the Drug Prevention Unit (YKAN) saw a 22-year-old national guardsman leaving the lawyer’s office. After a search, a gram of cocaine was found in the 22-year-old’s possession and it was later determined he got it from Theoclytou.

During the raid, the lawyer had tried to hide the evidence by locking himself in the toilet and flushing the drugs down the lavatory. He was stopped and immobilised by police, which found a quantity of 700 grams of cannabis, 93 ecstasy-type pills, 140 ephedrine pills, white powder believed to be ephedrine, a weighing scale, €13,495 and $1,520 in cash, a hunting rifle, a G3 rifle, as well as five wristwatches, 37 precious stones, 41 small crystals, two rings and a necklace. It was later determined that the cash and jewellery were not related to the case.

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.