THREE men were fined and a fourth man was jailed yesterday in yet another case involving illegal employment of foreign nationals and illegal entry into Cyprus.
The four defendants, who are from the Middle East and had to have the court proceedings translated through an Arabic-speaking interpreter, stood lined up in the dock and pleaded guilty to all charges.
Defendants one, three and four were fined on charges pertaining to illegal employment of foreign nationals. The second defendant was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and taken away in handcuffs.
The first defendant, who is married to a Greek Cypriot woman and supports three children age 13, 7 and 6 from his first marriage, was fined a total €5,000 for illegally employing two third country nationals at a construction site in Pallouriotisssa, in the Nicosia district last month.
The two men, who are fee-paying students at a local college and come from large families, were fined €800 each. The judge instructed the pair to pay the fine in full and in cash. Working in their favour was the fact that they were in Cyprus illegally when they had been caught working at the construction site, the judge said.
The first defendant was lucky to have escaped with only a fine as his offence carried a sentence of up to three years imprisonment and/or a fine of €8,543.
The second defendant, who has been in police custody since his arrest in May, arrived in Cyprus through an illegal point of entry in January. The court heard he had paid a Turkish man $1,000 to bring him to Cyprus and transport him to Limassol. He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for two charges including entering Cyprus illegally and for being an illegal immigrant. Both sentences are to run concurrently starting yesterday, the presiding Nicosia District judge said.
Judge Olga Loizou said illegal employment and illegal entry of illegal immigrants and had become a “scourge” of society.
“In order to stamp out the phenomenon the court must effectively impose the law and hand down deterrent sentences,” she said.
Although the court’s position was to set prison sentences in cases regarding illegal employment, the judge said allowances could be made depending on the circumstances.
