From hospital waiting room to police cell

IMMIGRANT support group KISA was yesterday demanding answers as to how a 31-year-old Congolese political asylum seeker had ended up in a police detention centre when he had been waiting to take an HIV test.

Executive director Doros Polycarpou said there were two versions of the story of how the asylum seeker had wounded up behind bars and that KISA wanted to get to the truth.

According to the 31-year-old he had been waiting at Nicosia general hospital about to have his third HIV blood test, after his first two test results came back positive and negative respectively. While he was waiting a white car pulled up and asked him if he was from Congo. When he said yes, he was put inside and whisked away. He is now in Nicosia’s Central Prisons’ Block 10 awaiting deportation.

The second version of events is from immigration police and asylum service, he said.

Both are claiming the 31-year-old voluntarily withdrew his asylum application and asked to be sent home.

Polycarpou said there were too many questions surrounding the incident and that someone had to give them a straight answer. KISA has already prepared a letter for the Interior Ministry and has signed copies of the Congolese man’s account of what happened.

“Why would someone who is possibly HIV positive want to return to Congo where there is no treatment available to him,” said Polycarpou.

The human rights’ activist said the question also begged asking as to why the 31-year-old would have withdrawn his asylum application and then two hours later changed his mind.

Polycarpou said he also wanted to speak to the translator that was required by law to witness the withdrawal of an asylum application.

“Perhaps someone signed on his behalf at the asylum service? Or maybe the asylum service and police are lying? Whatever the answer, it is a very serious issue and this man cannot be simply dispensed of. It has to be investigated, otherwise he’s being sent to his death,” he said.