A 28-YEAR-OLD Nicosia man who was yesterday jailed for two and a half years for possession of, and intent to sell, 60 grams of cocaine said he only became involved in the drugs business when he tried to help his brother who was a user.
Sitting in his holding cell at Nicosia’s Criminal Court staring at the ground, George Nicolaou said: “I came back from Russia, where I studied philology in Yekaterinburg, to help my brother and then on September 15, 2008 my life came to an end and I started dealing drugs,” he said.
The divorced father of one said he remembered the date clearly because it was when everything in his life had started falling apart.
“It was when I started losing everything. I came back from Russia with €240,000 which I received from selling my apartment and today I am sitting here with nothing,” he said.
Nicolaou, who sat in his holding cell in a pair of black trousers, trainers and a black and white checked puffer jacket, said the drugs business was a dirty, backstabbing one and that everyone was out to trick everyone.
“It comes to the point that you might even be sold sugar pawned off as cocaine,” he said.
He said Cyprus was full of cocaine and that it was no longer a drug of the rich and spoilt.
“Everyone uses it… It costs €100 a gramme” he said.
Nicolaou said he had been arrested on three charges between January and June last year and that for the past six months he had given up his wayward ways and taken on a job as a truck driver.
“I’ve never been a user. Both my parents are blind and I came back from Russia to help them and my brother and then I got caught up in this web of deceit and lies and backstabbing. I told you, it’s a fake world full of double crossing. It’s an ugly business,” he said.
However the last thing Nicolaou said he was thinking of at this time was his prison sentence.
“I’m thinking of other things. Personal things,” he said.
The 28-year-old, whose daughter is five years old, said no one had been in court for his sentencing. “No one. All my ‘friends’ disappeared the minute I was arrested. Even my own brother,” he said.
His eyes glistened when he said his mother knew he had been found guilty and was going to jail. Nevertheless he appeared not to want to dwell on it and simply shrugged it off.
“That’s the circle of life,” he said. “You can’t turn back time but you can stop time. It stopped for me in September 2008 and it has stopped for me again today.”
Asked what he thought the future held for him, Nicolaou said he did not know.
What about what he was thinking of right now? “I don’t know,” he said mutely.
Asked if he had been expecting anyone to turn up in court today he said: “A girl.”
“Did she show up?” “No.” “Are you sad, disappointed?” “It’ll pass,” he said and shifted in his seat.
