By Peter Stevenson

CYPRUS has been implicated in a wildlife crime syndicate along with Russia, Singapore and Thailand.

According to SOS, Save our Species, a wildlife trader arrested in Indonesia last week was a specialist in smuggling life animals, including baby primates and komodo dragons.

Police who arrested the trader confiscated four endangered Javan gibbons, four baby siamangs, and two palm cockatoos. The alleged trader is connected to illegal wildlife trafficking rings in Russia, Singapore, Thailand, and Cyprus, according to authorities there.

The illegal trading of exotic animals has been on the Cyprus-based animal welfare group ARC/Kivotos’ agenda for some time now and they had suggested to former Agriculture Minister Sophocles Aletraris and current minister Nicos Kouyialis to issue a decree obliging people to declare whatever exotic animals they may have on the island.

“Even the EU is very lax on these issues and no clear legislation exists on the movement of exotic animals within its member states. Dutch authorities have found a way around this too by ‘baptising’ any exotic animals that arrive in Holland as Dutch therefore allowing them to move freely around Europe,” said the head of ARC/Kivotos, Kyriacos Kyriacou.

EU member states have recently been trying to put a list together – a positive list – of those animals that can be imported or transported around Europe following the break out of animal related diseases.

“Greece, Belgium, Holland and Malta suggested the creation of a positive list but unfortunately that has stalled because Cyprus has tried to propose the opposite, a negative list [which lists banned animals],” Kyriacou said.

He said there are a number of places operating as ‘zoos’ that keep exotic animals in inhumane conditions and the government is doing nothing about it.

“We have complained to the minister, we have complained to the president himself but unfortunately nothing is being done and veterinary services are even protecting them in some cases,” he said.

The veterinary services says it has prepared a legal framework according to EU regulations to regulate the trade/ownership of pets but this has hit a stumbling block due to the financial crisis.

“The framework will require specialist knowledge of various animals, knowledge that civil servants unfortunately do not possess and means they will require specialised training in the subject. As you can imagine training of that nature requires money, and for the time being it is money we do not have,” said acting head of the veterinary services Christodoulos Pipis.

Kyriacou agreed that civil servants working at ports and airports would require special training to tell the difference between certain exotic breeds of animals and what conditions they need to be kept in.

While they cannot implement EU regulations, the veterinary services say they are further hampered by not being able to apply the regulations they did have in place before Cyprus joined the EU as they contravene EU rules on the freedom of movement of animals.

Regarding protected species Pipis explained that it was not the responsibility of the veterinary services but that of the country such an animal is coming from.

Three years ago, ARC/Kivotos helped move a three-year-old Vervet monkey to an exotic animal sanctuary in Amsterdam, after it started displaying aggressive behaviour. The pet’s owner saw the monkey in a Paphos pet shop and caved in to pressure by her children who were keen to adopt it as a pet. The pet shop charged about €2,000 for the pet, but offered no advice on how to care for the animal. Vervet monkeys live for about 20 years in captivity.

Born Free EU’s zoo report for 2011 referred to one animal park that fell short in terms of animal welfare. It stated that there was “an inappropriate mix of species” and gave the example of the small enclosure which housed both a crested porcupine and a raccoon which are unable to “express normal behaviours”.

The Born Free report acknowledged that numerous animals, including the raccoon and porcupine, had been moved to other enclosures but observed the living conditions were no different.

Liverpool crushed Premier League leaders Arsenal 5-1 with a stunning display of attacking football at Anfield on Saturday that revived their title hopes and raised doubts about the visitors’ championship credentials.

The first four goals came in an astonishing first 20 minutes as Liverpool ripped a disorganised Arsenal side to shreds, turning what has long been regarded as a three-horse title race into a four-way battle with Liverpool back in the hunt.

Arsenal had only conceded four goals in their last eight league matches, in which they were unbeaten, before Liverpool went on the rampage with two early goals from Martin Skrtel, a Raheem Sterling double and one from Daniel Sturridge.

For once Liverpool’s leading scorer Luis Suarez did not find the net, coming closest to a goal with a powerful long-range shot that smashed against a post.

The victory lifted Liverpool to 50 points with 13 matches left to play, five points behind Arsenal and three behind Manchester City and Chelsea who are in action later on Saturday at Norwich City and at home to Newcsatle United respectively.

The only bright spot for the shell-shocked Gunners came when Spaniard Mikel Arteta scored with a 69th minute penalty.

Despite the emphatic win and Liverpool’s total dominance, which led bookmakers to cut the Merseyside club’s title odds from 25-1 to 12-1, coach Brendan Rodgers played down any talk of winning the league.

“Everything about our game was incredible today, it was an amazing performance against an outstanding team. To be fair, the title has not been a target, but we are improving and everything we did today was outstanding,” he told BT Sport.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger cut a forlorn figure at the end and admitted: “It was a very poor day. We were poor defensively and offensively and Liverpool played very well and we have to bounce back from that as quickly as possible.

“Of course, it raises some questions today because we were caught many times and were naive.”

KNEED HOME

It took Liverpool less than a minute to open the scoring when their Slovakia central defender Skrtel took advantage of a deflection from a Steven Gerrard freekick and kneed the ball past Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

It was Liverpool’s 22nd goal from a set-piece this season, and 10 minutes later Skrtel doubled their lead with a well-directed backward glancing header that looped past the Polish keeper to make it 2-0.

Before the match Wenger said the “defensive stability” of his side would keep them in the hunt for honours – having not won any silverware since 2005 – but his back line were torn to shreds as Liverpool then scored twice more in four minutes.

Sterling made it 3-0 with a tap-in following a superb run and cross from Suarez after 17 minutes and went 4-0 up after 20 minutes when Philippe Coutinho left defender Laurent Koscielny floundering, allowing Sturridge to pick his spot.

Liverpool soaked up what little threat Arsenal posed before striking again to make it 5-0 after 52 minutes when Sterling got his second goal of the match by firing home a rebound after Szczesny had saved his first attempt.

Arsenal pulled one back when Arteta scored from the spot after Gerrard mistimed a tackle on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain,

Arsenal will have a quick chance of avenging their first league defeat at Anfield since 2007 when the two sides meet in an FA Cup fifth round tie at the Emirates next weekend.

The London side first face Manchester United in the league at home on Wednesday when Liverpool travel to lowly Fulham and not even Rodgers could dismiss their title hopes if they were to win on Wednesday and Arsenal lose again.

By Mike Collett-White
RUSSIA’S Winter Olympics sprang into action on Saturday with the first full day of sporting contest, finally drawing the world’s gaze from militant threats, a widely criticised ‘gay propaganda’ law and an opening ceremony that did not go completely to plan.

The United States claimed the first gold in the slopestyle event held amidst the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains, some 40 km northeast of the Black Sea resort town of Sochi where the main Olympic park is located.

On a clear, crisp day, U.S. snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg leapt and twisted high in the air, riding an almost flawless first run to win the slopestyle crown.
Rock music blared and fans danced as the event, which bears similarities to skateboarding, made its debut in an initiative to attract a younger demographic to Winter Olympic sport.
“I have no idea what’s actually going on. This is the craziest thing that ever happened,” Kotsenburg said.

President Vladimir Putin has staked his reputation on hosting a safe and successful Games.
Some 37,000 security personnel are on high alert in Sochi over threats by Islamist militant groups based in nearby Chechnya and other north Caucasus regions to attack the February 7-23 Games, the most expensive ever at a cost of $50 billion.

Security analysts believe an attack is more likely elsewhere in Russia to humiliate Putin, who launched a war to crush a Chechen separatist rebellion in 1999.
Twin suicide bombings killed at least 34 people in December in Volgograd, 700 km northeast of Sochi.
Now the Games are up and running, Putin hopes they will project Russia as a resurgent power that has finally shed the shackles of its Soviet past.

The opening ceremony on Friday night sought to do just that, taking viewers on a race through Russian history with spectacular set pieces created on a gargantuan scale.
Music from Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’, the turmoil of the Russian revolution and pioneering Soviet space exploration were all projected at break-neck speed before 40,000 spectators and millions watching on television.

The event, at the gleaming Fisht Stadium built on the shores of the Black Sea, was not without its problems.
One of the five Olympic rings failed to open properly, and when Russian state television noticed, footage of a successful rehearsal was used instead to conceal the glitch.

On Saturday, Russia’s Games chief Dmitry Chernyshenko was questioned about the choice of triple Olympic figure skating champion Irina Rodnina to light the Olympic flame – a huge honour in the sporting world.
A national hero in Russia and member of parliament loyal to Putin, she caused an outcry in the United States last September by re-tweeting a photoshopped picture showing President Barack Obama chewing and a hand waving a banana in front of him.
“Irina Rodnina is from the club of three-time gold medallists and one of the most respected in the world,” Chernyshenko told reporters. “The Olympic Games are not about politics,” he said.

Nevertheless, Putin held an expected one-on-one meeting on Friday with Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovich, who was in Sochi to attend the opening ceremony.
Moscow has frozen aid to Ukraine until it knows who will be named in place of the pro-Russian prime minister removed last week in a bid to appease opposition leaders and thousands of protesters rallying in central Kiev against Yanukovich’s rule.

The Ukrainian president infuriated many of his people by deciding at the last minute to spurn a trade deal with theEuropean Union in favour of deeper economic ties with Russia.
Five gold medals in total will be up for grabs on Saturday, with the action concluding around midnight with the floodlit women’s moguls.
Norwegian Marit Bjoergen, dubbed the ‘Iron Lady’ and the most successful athlete of the 2010 Games with five medals, including three golds, won the cross-country skiathlon.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s big draw, the men’s downhill, American Bode Miller laid bare the dangers faced by competitors when he said the treacherous Rosa Khutor piste “could kill you”.

The veteran clocked a speed of 132.59 kilometres (82.4 miles) per hour as he topped the timesheets in the final training run for the race, but was shaken after seeing team mate Marco Sullivan narrowly escape a serious crash.

“Not kill myself was the primary objective,” Miller told reporters after an impressive show of speed and control through the twists and turns of a course he said was “damned fast”.
“It’s very treacherous. This course has teeth everywhere. The top is aggressive and speeds are so high and the turns are so swingy and bumpy that you can hook an edge anywhere.”

An Eden Hazard hat-trick swept Chelsea back to the top of the Premier League on Saturday when they beat Newcastle United 3-0 at Stamford Bridge after previous leaders Arsenal were thrashed 5-1 at Liverpool.

Manchester City, who started the day in second place, slipped to third after they were held to a 0-0 draw at Norwich City despite dominating for almost the entire match.

With 13 games remaining, Chelsea are top with 56 points, followed by Arsenal on 55, City with 54 and Liverpool on 50.

Chelsea took advantage of Arsenal’s demolition at Anfield with a comprehensive win over Newcastle who had no answer to Hazard’s artistry which produced goals in the 27th and 34th minutes with his third coming from the penalty spot after 63.

At the other end of the table, Crystal Palace climbed to 13th after a 3-1 win over visitors West Bromwich Albion who slipped into the relegation zone.

West Ham United climbed away from the bottom three with a 2-0 win at Aston Villa.

In the day’s other games, Southampton and Stoke City drew 2-2 while Hull City won 2-0 at 10-man Sunderland, who had Wes Brown sent off after three minutes.

By Bejay Browne

THE FIRST OF two events aimed at engaging youth in cultural activities will get underway in Paphos this month.

Organised by the Paphos-Aphrodite Rotary club, who have teamed up with ‘Pafos 2017’, the events will involve young people aged between 16-18 years in the Paphos district.

“The idea is to add a touch of sparkle and hope for the youth as they are facing a difficult situation here in Cyprus. There is now a depression that wasn’t here before and many youngsters have begun to feel afraid for their futures,” said Julia Rautenschlein, president of the Paphos-Aphrodite Rotary Club.

“Theses events will promote a positive European image, mix the youth together, empower them and integrate the cultural capital 2017 – which is a fantastic.”

In 2013, Paphos won the international competition to become the European Capital of Culture for 2017, a title it will share with Aarhus in Denmark.

The first event, which is also supported by the European Parliament and Europe Direct Paphos, will be a public speaking contest in English titled ‘Speak your way into Europe’.

“The schools have already been given the five subjects to choose from. Each team will consist of three kids, who will make a presentation of ten minutes in total on two of the subjects – which are the various European youth programmes,” Rautenschlein said:

Pupils from five schools in the Paphos and Polis areas will take part.

The two winning teams will be invited to join the Euroscola Programme and travel to Strasbourg for a three day trip to experience the European Parliament. Three other teams will be invited to visit the House of Europe in Nicosia.

The second youth project is open to the public and is due to take place on June 18 at the old district officer’s house in Paphos, the headquarters of Pafos 2017.

The initiative will involve students from the local lyceums, as well as the International School of Paphos and the AmericanAcademy of Paphos. The project is billed as an intercultural art, music and dance event, where students will get a chance to show of their creative skills in all of these art forms.

Rautenschlein said: “We have teamed up with Pafos 2017 again for this event which will be a lot of fun and will be guided and supervised by the teachers who have been very supportive of the event.”

According to the Rotarian, all of the expenses incurred for the projects will be covered by Paphos-Aphrodite Rotary Club and its supporters.

“This is as a gesture to the community and the youth of Paphos, as well as contributing to a successful European Capital of Culture. We believe that youth engagement in culture helps to promote social integration and acceptance of diversity, both of which are main criteria for a successful European Capital of Culture,” said Rautenschlein.

She said that the club hopes to co operate on more events in the future, as well as supporting a number of other youth projects.

“We would ideally like to offer the support to schools to find local traineeships for a number of students on a yearly basis.”

Julia Rautenschlein-Paphos-Aphrodite Rotary Club, Julia@rautenschlein.com

By Constantinos Psillides

A LONG DAY dawns on Saturday for DIKO’s election committee officials when they regulate and monitor the biggest and most complicated internal elections the party has ever seen.

After a December 1 confrontation between Nicolas Papadopoulos and Marios Garoyian that decided the party leadership, DIKO members will now vote for every other post in their party, from deputy heads to secretaries of local and district committees.

But with DIKO being part of the ruling coalition and the party that regularly holds the balance of political power, all eyes are fixed on today’s election which will decide whether Papadopoulos’ win over Garoyian is cemented with the ouster of the latter’s supporters.

Until last week, all the signs indicated that the Papadopoulos camp was headed towards an easy win. But then came the joint communiqué on the parameters of a solution to the Cyprus problem between President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.

Anastasiades’ long but finally successful effort at issuing the joint declaration with the Turkish Cypriot leadership to jump-start talks caused an uproar in the ranks of the hardliners, of whom Papadopoulos is considered an unofficial leader.

Papadopoulos warned the president that if he signed the communique and started talks, his party would dissolve the governing coalition.

Anastasiades’ response was defiant. Knowing full well that party elections were to be held this Sunday, the president extended a formal invitation to Garoyian to come to the palace. They didn’t say what they discussed. Neither of them made any public statements, but the message was loud and clear. Papadopoulos was no longer considered a friend and the Presidential Palace believes DIKO has another leader on standby.

Back in December, when DIKO held leadership elections, the press reported that President Anastasiades favoured Garoyian over Papadopoulos, as he regarded the son of former president Tassos Papadopoulos a hard-liner and a potential thorn if the peace talks ever recommenced. The general consensus back then was that Papadopoulos would dissolve the government alliance by leaving the coalition if he won the DIKO leadership.

Reports were so wide-spread that Papadopoulos had to come out and state publicly that he would not abandon the government, provided that “the president keeps his promises”. Papadopoulos was referring of course to the assurances the president had given DIKO before the 2013 presidential elections, that the Annan plan was “dead and buried”, and that “the Annan plan in any form won’t be put back on the table”.

A promise Papadopoulos now thinks the president has broken.

Papadopoulos’ victory over Garoyian in December was marginal, 51 per cent over 49 per cent, and the former leader of DIKO still has enough power within the party. Anastasiades’ apparent endorsement of Garoyian, along with the government appointments that go with it, have made a lot of DIKO members think twice about voting for Papadopoulos supporters. What should have been a smooth ride now has turn into an ugly confrontation among supporters of the two leaders.

And even if that wasn’t enough for Papadopoulos to deal with, he has to wait and see what the son of another former president will do. Marcos Kyprianou, son of Spyros Kyprianou is staging a political comeback after his involvement in the Mari naval blast incident (he was foreign minister at the time) and is a friend of neither of the two DIKO leaders.

Kyprianou still wields a heavy bat in the Limassol district, where he has a lot of support. Kyprianou is up for deputy head and is considered a favourite for the position. A rising Kyprianou would surely be a threat for Papadopoulos, who is now seeing his opponents grow in number.

In addition to asserting his authority, Papadopoulos needs a victory by a large margin for another reason. Under internal regulations, he and the central committee cannot just decide to break away from the government. And if he takes the issue to a vote and loses it, or even wins but by a small margin, it will spell the end of Papadopoulos.

If Garoyian garners enough support he could easily divide DIKO, take half the party with him and open for them a host of government positions in the Anastasiades government, previously held by Papadopoulos supporters. The palace of course would welcome such a move, as it will cripple the largest party within the “denialists” front.

Anastasiades is expected to take a lot heat in the coming months, and having the party that traditionally led the charge against a compromise with the Turkish Cypriot leadership divided would be a major relief for the government

By Patroclos

IT WAS a fantastic week for our freedom-fighter politicians as they were handed one excuse after the other to show off their death-defying bravery, moral superiority, principled negativity and total lack of originality. It goes without saying that our hacks, who could be even braver than politicians, also indulged their lust for moralising.

The first opportunity was offered by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who showed total ignorance about the Cyprob and the CyRepublic in comments he made on Saturday. The uninformed South Korean blamed the interruption in the talks on the “change of government in the Greek Cypriot community of Cyprus”, inviting a verbal onslaught by our freedom-fighters.

This ‘slip’ was a ‘thunderbolt from the blue’, a ‘distortion of the truth’, a ‘blow to our state standing’ a ‘downgrading of the state to a community’, and, according to Ethnarch Junior, who could not hide his ‘bitterness and disappointment’, indicative that the ‘stage was being set up for pressure for concessions to be applied on the Greek Cypriots’.

The Eurococks and EDEK said that Big Bad Al was behind Ban’s comments while our foreign minister, Ioannis Kasoulides, feeling obliged to join the party, wondered how long a UNSG had to be in his post to know all the UN’s member states. Kas said that he had given instructions for an official protest to be submitted to the Sec-Gen’s office, urging Ban to learn by heart all the UN member states.

I was very disappointed that not one of our brave politicians had called for the immediate removal of the Turkophile Ban from his post, after uttering these lies.

BY MONDAY the politicos had another provocation to get their bravery juices flowing. The Turkish navy had expelled a Norwegian ship carrying out hydrocarbon research in our EEZ and although the government had denied it, the Turkish general staff had, very helpfully, confirmed the bullying.

The ‘strong reaction of the parties was provoked by the new Turkish provocation’ reported Phil, adding that there were calls on the government to take actions that would have a real cost to Turkey’s EU accession course. Junior’s DIKO felt that the provocations were a ‘blow to the effort for the resumption of talks’ which DIKO is really keen on.

The provocations showed that the stage was being set for pressure to be applied on our side and for an unacceptable solution to be imposed, said DIKO, which contradicted itself a bit. If Turkey’s provocations prevented the resumption of talks that would lead to the imposition of an unacceptable settlement, surely DIKO should have praised them.

Meanwhile the socialist windbag Yiannakis Omirou labelled the provocation an ‘act of piracy’ and called for decisive action. We should avoid appeasement because this encourages Turkish aggression, said the brave Paphite.

THE REAL fun for the brave negativity salesmen begun on Thursday, after Prez Nik invited the party leaders to the palazzo to inform them that a joint declaration had been agreed and that the talks were set to resume.

DIKO’s fears about the provocation dealing a blow to the resumption of talks proved unfounded, but this did not make Junior happy, as he urged Nik not to agree to the communiqué. He even took a document interpreting the joint declaration in the most extremely negative way possible, as if to prove he was a worthy upholder of his late father’s legacy of cartoon negativity.

On Friday the resistance fighters were competing over who would come up with the most freakishly scary interpretation of the declaration. We heard that there would be ‘three-headed sovereignty’ (EDEK), triple citizenship (DIKO), ‘a return to the Annan plan’ and of course the dreaded, ‘virgin birth of the state’ was back on the agenda.

The negotiations had not even begun and our loser politicians, like the chorus in an ancient Greek tragedy had gone into a lament about doom ahead.

YIORKOS Lillikas who refuses to give up his presidential ambitions, found another opportunity to call for the resignation of Prez Nik on the grounds he had not honoured the promises he made to the electorate.

This was a bit rich coming from a close aide of Ethnarch Tassos who fought and won the 2003 presidential elections on the oft-repeated promise that he would work for a Cyprus settlement based on the Annan plan. Yiorkos never called for Tassos’ resignation because he had not kept his promise for a good cause.

To the question of ‘what would be the alternative to the resumption of negotiations’, Lillikas came up with his usual nonsense about increasing the cost of the occupation for Turkey, something he did with resounding success when he was foreign minister.

An even better response to this question was given by EDEK’s Marinos Sizopoulos – he said we should arrange an international conference at which all Turkey’s international crimes against Cyprus would be exposed and the world powers would be obliged to act. Sizopoulos is a grown man who works as a doctor when he is not playing marbles and fantasy politics.

THE WORST of the lot has been Junior, also known as The Prince of Darkness, who wants the Cyprob to remain open forever because this best serves his career interests. He is after all the leader of a party that stands for two things – negativity on the Cypob marketed as high principle and corruption.

Take away the Cyprob and the party would stand only for rusfeti which is its true character, but it needs to maintain some pretence of public worth. The Prince tried to persuade prez Nik to agree to talks but to deal with procedural aspect that would lead nowhere. “That’s what my father would have done,” he proudly told Nik, unable to hide his admiration for his dad’s political dishonesty that combined with his negativity made him a great leader.

Junior has also recruited the services of his dad’s right hand man, super hard-liner ambassador Tasos Tzionis, who is believed to have written the document that the Prince submitted to Nik at Thursday’s meeting about the triple citizenship and Annan Plan. Junior is pretty clueless about the legalistic crap of the Cyprob, so needs help from a master in negativity like Tzionis.

During the Ethnarch’s reign Tzionis successfully had over 100 meetings with the representative of Mehmet Ali Talat and managed to agree on nothing.

BY PREPARING papers for Junior, Tzionis a civil servant, is in effect working against the interests of the government that employs him and to which his loyalties should be. Instead he exploits the access he has to information and then uses it against the government, which is not very ethical behaviour even by our country’s low ethical standards.

Tzionis now has to fight the efforts for a settlement directly as his grandiose plans to set up a regional energy alliance of Cyprus, Greece, Israel and Egypt, that would have supposedly helped us secure a better solution, have been exposed as bad joke. He obviously omitted to ask Israel about joining the alliance and they are already in talks about selling their natural gas to Turkey via an underwater pipeline.

To achieve any such alliance you need to be pro-active and creative, but the only thing people like Tzionis, Junior and the rest really know is being negative – finding reasons for not doing anything.

THE SISTER-IN-LAW of the happiest man in Cyprus, the chairman of the BoC, had a rather unfortunate experience a few months ago. She was employed at Laiki and when she was transferred to the BoC, she decided to take the voluntary redundancy package that was on offer. She did not know that her sister’s husband would become the chairman of the bank.

When Christis was appointed, she made countless efforts to be re-employed – using her father’s powerful Yiorkadjic connections – but failed. However it all worked out very well for Paola. She was hired by one of the Co-op banks on a salary that was 33 per cent higher than what she was receiving at Laiki.

Some people are just lucky, even though it helps if your dad is a member of the Yiorkadjis cabal that still wields phenomenal power, more than 40 years after the murder of the minister that put this sinister group together.

I AM BEGINNING to think that the reason the former governor of the Central Bank Ttooulis Ttoouli has still not been prosecuted for corruption is because he was also a leading member of the Yiorkadjis cabal. I just cannot believe that a former governor who received €1 million from an associate of a banker he was supervising, two months after the expiry of his term, still has not been charged. It is not even as if he gave a convincing explanation for the payment – consultancy fees to his clueless daughter for 10 years, paid in advance.

I DO NOT mean to be disrespectful to the memory of the late Glafcos Clerides, but the posthumous award he received from local rag Man must qualify as a bit of a sick joke. I know these annual rag awards should not be taken seriously, because they usually go to the businessmen with the biggest advertising budgets, but the Clerides award, although not money-motivated, was in very poor taste.

Clerides was declared Man magazine’s Man of the Year for 2013. In sane countries man, or woman, of the year awards go to individuals who leave their mark on the year in some way. Clerides did nothing in 2013 other than go in and out of hospital with health problems. His achievement, for which the rag honoured him with the Man of the Year award, was that he died.

WE WERE eagerly waiting to see delightful Delia last week but have to express a bit of disappointment for her new hair-style. Her bob, is so 16th century, it makes her look like a page-boy in a film set in the court of Henry VIII. The other disappointment is that she did not make too many public appearances. Was she entering ministries and banks through the back entrances to avoid the cameramen? If so this was very unkind to her legions of fans who sat watching the TV news just to get a glimpse of her.

DESPITE our inclination for conspiracy theories, nothing was made of the leading part played by the Americans in the latest diplomatic efforts to get the talks started after years of Uncle Sam showing complete indifference to the problem. Yet without the direct involvement of the US government it is doubtful we would have had this week’s breakthrough on the joint declaration which had eluded the two sides for four months.

Nobody has asked why the US has been showing such interest in a Cyprus settlement in the last few months after nine years of completely giving up on it. Washington had much more serious and urgent issues to deal with, and it had no intention of wasting more time and resources on Cyprus after the rejection of the Annan plan. Then, at some point last year, the US changed its policy having concluded that maintenance of the status quo, with which it was perfectly happy for nine years, was no longer acceptable and a settlement became an objective again.

There is no State Department rule stipulating that an attempt to solve the Cyprus problem would be made once every 10 years, nor did US officials decide to hatch a conspiracy to hand over the island to Turkey. The game-changer has been the discovery of hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean, the exploitation of which requires regional stability and regional co-operation. A settlement would contribute to this as it paves the way for joint ventures in which Turkey, Israel and Cyprus would participate. The simplistic plans for a Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Egypt energy alliance to counter Turkey – advanced by the hard-line nationalists at the Cyprus foreign ministry – have been exposed as utter nonsense.

The US would not have undertaken the initiative for a settlement if it did not serve Israel’s interests. Israel-Turkey relations have improved significantly in recent months, Benjamin Netanyahu’s apology for the Mavi Marmara incident and this week’s deal for compensation by Israel of the victims were an example of the steps taken; El Al will resume flights to Turkey which were stopped in 2007 over security disagreements. This gradual normalisation of relations has allowed companies from the two countries to discuss the possibility of establishing an underground pipeline taking natural gas from Israel’s Leviathan field to Turkey. This may explain Noble Energy’s loss of interest in the setting up of a costly LNG terminal at Vassilikos – if Israel does not use it would it not be viable – and, together with its partner Delek, having talks with Turkish energy companies.

Writing on the Bloomberg website former US Ambassador Matt Bryza has mentioned the possibility of such a pipeline passing through the Cyprus continental shelf or over Cyprus territory, even though he acknowledged the need for a settlement. We cannot go into all the options being discussed but we mention the above as an explanation for the sudden interest of the US in Cyprus settlement. This would be part of grander designs aimed at bringing America’s two closest allies in the region into a strategic, mutually beneficial partnership, that may also act as a counter to Russia’s growing influence – Russian companies have bee

By Peter Stevenson

PRESIDENT Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu will meet in the United Nations protected area of Nicosia at the Good Offices Mission on Tuesday at 11.30am, the UN announced on Saturday.

Both leaders announced their agreement to a draft joint declaration on Friday, paving the way for the resumption of the stalled peace talks.

There are no plans, at this stage, for Alexander Downer, the UN’s special envoy, to make it to Cyprus in time for Tuesday’s first meeting, according to diplomatic sources.

“Downer, the UN Secretary General’s Special Advisor on Cyprus, is not scheduled to come for now,” the sources said.

The UN will be represented by Chief of Mission and UN Secretary General’s Representative in Cyprus Lisa Buttenheim.

“The meeting will give the two leaders the chance to sit down together officially for the first time since negotiations broke off a year and a half ago. Not too much will be discussed other than determining point number eight on the joint statement,” the sources said.

Point eight of the joint statement has been left open to give the leaders the chance to announce topics other than those covered in the previous seven points.

Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said on Saturday that within the joint communiqué it is clear that there is no possibility of secession, something the president insisted on.

“Those claiming that there is a provision for two separate sovereignties are mistaken. It is also clear that there is no issue within the joint communiqué regarding arbitration from other countries,” he said.

The government spokesman added that it is possible that the political parties have most likely not fully read the statement, causing some of them to react so negatively.

He echoed Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ comments on Friday that there needs to be national unity, adding that the government will do whatever is in its power to make sure there will not be a divisive atmosphere on the island.

“We will all be together for this difficult negotiation and despite any disagreements the president would like to continue with the consent of all the political powers which can all contribute,” he said.

Stylianides added that Anastasiades truly appreciated the responsible stance of opposition AKEL and especially the statement made on Friday by the party’s Secretary General Andros Kyprianou that he would keep a responsible attitude regardless of the political cost.

Former health minister and AKEL presidential candidate in last year’s elections, Stavros Malas yesterday said he would support Anastasiades during the negotiation process as he felt it is Cyprus’ last chance to find a solution.

Malas said that the circumstances favour an assertive policy.

“No-one’s shoulders are broad enough to carry this burden and even those who disagree have a role to play but the president should not be weakened in this struggle because we have seen the results in the past,” he said.

Describing it as a historic moment, Malas said “we should not be fighting for political vindication but the vindication of our country, because if the president fails then it is Cyprus which will lose.”

Small countries need bold policies and political stature to effectively assert their geostrategic role, the former health minister said.

AKEL’s political office yesterday called on all the political parties to rise to the occasion through cooperation and understanding.

Speaking at a press conference party spokesman Giorgos Loucaides said the party had decided to support the negotiations and called on the president to be consistent in principles of a settlement.

Coalition party DIKO in a statement on Saturday repeated its call for Anastasiades to abandon the joint communiqué, pleading with him to opt for a simpler and shorter text which had been suggested by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon last month. EDEK and the Citizens’ Alliance also repeated their own opposition to the declaration.

On Thursday, Eroglu had received a phone call from US Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns.

The same day, following tweaks to the previous draft communiqué, Anastasiades approved the final text, drawing fire from coalition partners DIKO and EVROKO as well as minority opposition parties EDEK, the Greens and Citizens’ Alliance. Only ruling DISY and main opposition AKEL offered their support for the start of talks.

According to a White House statement, Anastasiades also received a phone call Friday afternoon from US Vice President Joe Biden confirming US support for a solution and appreciation of Cyprus as “a key partner in a vital region”.

The statement said Biden looked forward to the resumption of talks in the coming days, and “encouraged creative thinking on ways to improve prospects for success”.

By Alan Baldwin
Matthias Mayer won Olympic downhill gold on Sunday to give the Austrian men’s team the perfect start to the Alpine skiing competition with the first major success of his fledgling career.

On an overcast day in Sochi when big favourites Bode Miller and Aksel Lund Svindal failed to shine, Italy’s Christof Innerhofer – so nearly living up to his ‘Winnerhofer’ tag – took the silver and Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud snapped up the bronze.

The 23-year-old Mayer, who started 11th, is the son of 1988 super-G silver medallist Helmut. His winning time of two minutes, 06.23 seconds was 0.06 faster than Innerhofer’s.
His gold medal continued an Austrian tradition of first time winners on the biggest stage of all and provided an immediate boost for a men’s team who failed to win a single medal in Vancouver four years ago.
“It’s crazy. It’s the greatest thing you can achieve as a sportsman – unbelievable,” said Mayer, who had set the quickest time in Friday training.
The last Austrian to win the downhill gold was Fritz Strobl in 2002. Compatriots Patrick Ortlieb (1992) and Leonhard Stock (1980) also took their first big career wins in the Olympic downhill.

American Miller, 36, was bidding to become the oldest man to win an Alpine gold at a Games but was left hanging his head after finishing eighth.
“It’s tough, obviously. I was looking to win,” he told reporters after a lingering kiss from his wife. “I obviously thought I had a chance in it. But it’s tough when things don’t go your way.”
The American showman had been 0.31 of a second quicker than Mayer at the second time check but then lost a heap of time in the bottom part of the course to finish in 2:06.75.

Svindal, the downhill world champion and 2010 silver medallist, was pipped to a medal by bearded compatriot Jansrud.
“I didn’t go fast enough, it was difficult at the top and I made lots of mistakes, I lost too much time and the others were too fast,” he said. “I knew it wasn’t just between me and Bode. Matthias was the fastest and he deserved to win.”

President Nicos Anastasiades on Sunday urged the island’s political leadership, the media, and civil society to work together to achieve a viable solution that will secure a modern, European state for all the citizens of the country.

In a statement issued Sunday ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, Anastasiades said that after an arduous effort that lasted many months, the two  sides agreed on “a joint declaration that will allow us to resume a substantive dialogue to achieve a solution that will rid our country of the occupation, lead to reunification and safeguard the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all the legitimate citizens of Cyprus.”

At the same time, Anastasiades said he was following with great respect and patience the views and positions expressed by the political leaders and others on the contents of the declaration, but was obliged to note that he considered certain suggestions “totally unfounded and dangerously arbitrary.”

He said he felt the need to emphasize that he has “not deviated one iota” from his pre-election commitments either towards DIKO or the people of Cyprus.

Coalition partners DIKO and other political forces have expressed fierce opposition to the declaration.

Anastasiades said he will give a detailed analysis of the facts and what had been achieved through the joint declaration in the coming days.

He urged everyone to cooperate, focusing on “all the things that unite us” and “fight together to achieve a viable solution that will secure a modern, European state for all the citizens of the country.”

“The joint declaration is only the beginning”, the president said. “We have hard work ahead and should make a persistent effort.”

Anastasiades thanked the Greek government for its unwavering support and expressed satisfaction for the responsible stance of the two biggest political parties on the island, ruling DISY and AKEL, and the responsibility exhibited by other political forces and civil society.

An injury-time goal from Fulham’s Darren Bent inflicted more pain on struggling Manchester United as the bottom club rescued a 2-2 Premier League draw on Sunday while Tottenham Hotspur beat top-four rivals Everton 1-0.

Late goals from Robin van Persie and Michael Carrick helped United cancel out a Steve Sidwell opener to lead a resolute Fulham 2-1 before Bent headed in at the far post to nick a point in the 94th minute.

A stunning finish from revitalised striker Emmanuel Adebayor helped fifth-placed Tottenham sink Everton to move above their rivals.

Tottenham were second best for most of the match as Everton confidently dominated possession but they were left to rue their lack of a cutting edge when Adebayor fired powerfully into the bottom corner midway through the second half.

It was the Togo striker’s sixth goal in his last eight league matches.

Tottenham, who had won just two of their previous 13 league games against Everton, have 47 points, three adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool and two ahead of Everton in sixth.

Manchester United are seventh on 41 points while Fulham stay bottom with 20

Swiss voters on Sunday narrowly backed proposals to reintroduce immigration quotas with the European Union, Swiss television reported – a result that calls into question bilateral accords with the EU and could irk multinational companies.

While neutral Switzerland is not a member of the EU, its immigration policy is based on free movement of people to and from the EU, as well as allowing in a restricted number of non-EU citizens.

The vote, which comes 12 years after an agreement with the EU on free movement of people came into force, could hurt an economy dependent on foreign professionals by increasing red tape and jeopardising bilateral accords.

In a nail-biting vote, 50.3 percent backed the so-called “Stop mass immigration” initiative, which also won the required majority approval in more than half of Swiss cantons or regions, Swiss television said.

The outcome obliges the government to make the initiative, spearheaded by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), into law.

It reflects growing concern among the Swiss population that immigrants are eroding the nation’s distinctive Alpine culture and contributing to rising rents, crowded transport and more crime.

Opponents of the move say it could exacerbate a shortage of skilled workers in Switzerland, the home of Roche, Novartis, UBS, Nestle and other multinationals filled with foreign professionals.

“Explanatory and constructive talks with the EU are needed urgently,” the Swiss Banking Association tweeted after the result.

Severe flooding and landslips cut off rail links to large parts of southwest England for more than 24 hours at the weekend as the government came under pressure for its handling of storms battering Britain.

Some areas have been underwater for over a month in the wettest January on record, with angry residents criticising the government for not doing enough to prevent flooding or reacting quickly enough to help those affected by the devastation.

The military have been brought in to help build flood defences and evacuate properties. Britain’s Met Office said several weather warnings remained in place for the coming days, with more heavy rain and gale force winds expected.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who visited the region on Friday, has announced extra funding for flood defence repairs and maintenance. He is due to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee later on Sunday.

But Environment Agency chairman Chris Smith, who received a frosty reception when he visited flood-hit areas this week, has faced calls to step down.

On Sunday, the government’s communities minister Eric Pickles, who took over responsibility for the flood response after the environment minister was taken ill, apologised.

“We made a mistake, there’s no doubt about that, and we perhaps have relied too much on the Environment Agency’s advice,” he told the BBC, saying the government now realised rivers should have been dredged to help prevent flooding.

“I’ll apologise unreservedly and I’m really sorry that we took the advice,” he said. “We thought we were dealing with experts.”

In the Somerset Levels, where muddy brown water stretched off in all directions as far as the eye could see, nearly 3 million tonnes of water were being pumped out every day.

Earlier in the week, high tides and stormy seas destroyed a large section of sea wall at Dawlish in Devon, washing a stretch of railway track into the sea. Further flooding and landslips cut off all rail links to Devon and Cornwall on Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon Network Rail, Britain’s rail network operator, said one route had now reopened for a limited service, with trains running at a reduced speed.

Low cost airline Flybe has said it will double the number of flights it runs on weekdays from Newquay in Cornwall to London to help alleviate transport problems.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain’s anti-European Union party UKIP, has called for some of the overseas aid budget to be diverted to help tackle the flooding. Speaking to the BBC during a visit to the region on Sunday, he described the government’s response as “Too little, too late”.

Canada and Germany added to their gold medal hauls at the Winter Olympics on Monday, while Russia basked in the afterglow of its first title of the Games after the team figure skating victory captivated the host nation.

The inaugural team event, decided at a packed Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi on Sunday, was a personal triumph for President Vladimir Putin, who has staked his reputation on staging a successful Games.

State television followed the beaming 61-year-old as he congratulated and shook hands with the skaters, smiled and slapped hands with young volunteers, drank beer and urged the Russian team to go on to greater sporting heights.

“Good job guys, my congratulations to you all,” Putin said to the victorious skaters around him. “You have a lot of work ahead of you here, so don’t relax.”

Among the victorious skaters was the diminutive 15-year-old Julia Lipnitskaya, who stole the show with a breathtaking performance that immediately made her one of the stars of Sochi.

After a buildup to the Olympics overshadowed by threats of militant violence, international criticism of a contentious “anti-gay propaganda” law and allegations of widespread corruption, Putin appeared delighted.

He hopes to use Russia’s first Winter Games, at $51 billion the most expensive ever held, to project the country as a resurgent nation that belongs among the world’s elite powers.

A strong performance in the sporting arena would go some way to achieving that, after Russia won only three golds in Vancouver in 2010, its lowest ever Winter Olympics tally.

On the third full day of competition, Canada lead the medals table with two golds, two silvers and one bronze, while Russia are in sixth spot.

FIVE MEDAL EVENTS

Monday’s action saw Germany Maria Hoefl-Riesch retain her Olympic super combined title with a slalom surge amidst the peaks of the Caucasus mountains towering above the main Olympic park in Sochi on the Black Sea coast.

In the high-velocity, notoriously unpredictable sport of short track, Charles Hamelin of Canada grabbed 1,500m gold before lunging over the barriers to wrap his girlfriend and team mate Marianne St-Gelais in a hug.

South Korean Mo Tae-bum is bidding to repeat his 2010 success in the speed skating 500m, and in the mountains Canadians Alexandre Bilodeau and Mikael Kingsbury are expected to fight it out for the men’s moguls title in freestyle skiing.

Forty-year-old Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen will be going for a record 13th Winter Games medal in the 12.5 km biathlon pursuit, after winning the sprint event on Saturday.

Looking further ahead over the Feb. 7-23 Games, women ski jumpers will compete in the Olympics for the first time.

Women had petitioned to be included in every Games since Nagano in 1998, but it was not until April 2011 that the International Olympic Committee announced female athletes could compete on the normal hill in Sochi.

The clash between the US and Russian men’s ice hockey teams on Saturday is a mouthwatering prospect that will bring back memories of the “miracle on ice” clash at Lake Placid in 1980 when the Americans shocked the dominant Soviets to win 4-3.

WINNING LOCALS OVER?

A Russian victory in that game would further enhance the mood among locals. Even some of those worst affected by years of disruption caused by huge infrastructure projects in Sochi appear to be won over by the gleaming new Olympic park.

“It’s just fantastic,” Sergei Klyuyev, from the Adler area where the park was built, said as he walked through with his family on Sunday, admiring the state-of-the-art stadiums.

“There’s been building work here for five years but look at all this around us. We regret nothing, not even the cost.”

Putin has also defended the Olympic project, saying it helped shield Russia from the worst of the financial crisis.

Not all Russians are convinced, however. A recent survey by independent pollster Levada showed 47 percent of Russians believe the cost of the Games has soared because funds have been embezzled or mismanaged.

Norway, bidding to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, said in Sochi on Monday it would limit its bill to around $5 billion.

Included in Russia’s eye-watering Winter Games costs is a major security operation, as Islamist militants based in nearby Chechnya and other North Caucasus regions have threatened to launch attacks on Sochi.

Some 37,000 security personnel are on high alert in and around Sochi, although officials believe the risk of militant violence is greater elsewhere in Russia.

A major attack during the Games would embarrass Putin, who launched a war to crush a rebellion in Chechnya in 1999.

Russian police killed four suspected militants in a shootout in Dagestan province, some 600 kilometres  from Sochi on the other end of the Caucasus Mountain chain, law enforcement officials said on Monday.

There was no indication the gun fight on Saturday was connected with the Games.

By Constantinos Psillides

IMMIGRATION department head Anny Shakallis and Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos were reprimanded by the Supreme Court on Monday for ignoring a court decision to release a Bosnian asylum seeker from detention.

The Bosnian national, who is currently detained at Menoyia Detention Centre, was to be released on December 19, 2013 by order of another Supreme Court ruling. Instead of adhering to the ruling, immigration department re-arrested the man outside the court once the proceedings were concluded.

“Governmental services showed an unprecedented lack of respect by choosing to ignore a Supreme Court ruling,” the Supreme Court decision said, adding that there was absolutely no reason for the man to remain behind bars.

The Supreme Court also accused governmental services for conspiring to keep the Bosnian in detention, pointing out that the new detention order was ready minutes after the court ruling on December 19 was handed out. The Supreme Court cited a fax sent by Shiakalli to Hasikos, asking him to sign off on the new detention order.

“It is obvious that in anticipation of an unfavourable ruling, governmental services hastily drafted a new detention order, which proves that they weren’t planning on complying with the court’s decision,” the Supreme Court judge said.

The Bosnian came to Cyprus in 2005, along with his family. He asked for political asylum but his petition was officially rejected by all courts in March 2013 and he was asked to leave the island. In April 2013 he was arrested and transported to Menoyia, for being uncooperative. According to the immigration department memos and police reports, the man refused to sign documents saying he had received his deportation order.

Under European law, detention is the final step of the deportation process and should only be reserved for extreme cases. EU law dictates that six months is the maximum time an undocumented immigrant can remain incarcerated, with an extra year added if the immigrant is waiting for documents to arrive or if he is being “uncooperative”. Human rights lawyer Michalis Paraskeva told the Cyprus Mail that the last point is a regular source of conflict with immigration department. “It’s a provision they abuse to lock people up. They slap the label ‘uncooperative’ on people so they can lock them up for a long time. There is no clear definition of the term and they abuse it to their advantage,” he said.

The court ruled that the reason immigration department provided was not grounds for detention and the man should be released.

A source inside the department told the Cyprus Mail that the whole story had been blown out of proportion. “It’s merely a formality issue. We didn’t fill in the necessary paperwork and present our case in the correct way. We are trying to adhere to rules and regulations,” the source said.

CYPRUS has signed a contract for the financing of the construction of a new shelter for victims of domestic violence under the Norway Grants 2009-2014.

The project will be implemented by the Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in the Family.

Funding is being provided to Cyprus on the basis of the relevant provisions of the MoU signed between the Republic of Cyprus and the Kingdom of Norway.

The total budget for the project is €819.202. The Norway Grants 2009-2014 will provide 90.6 per cent of the total project budget, some €742.198, while the Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in the Family will provide 9.4 per cent, or €77.005.

The main objective is to create the infrastructure required to offer increased and improved standards of accommodation, security and other supporting services to people who experience physical and psychological abuse and who are in danger from their immediate family environment.

It also aims to empower victims to become financially and psychologically independent and be confident in pursuing their goals and exercising their rights.

This will serve as a stepping stone towards breaking the cycle of violence and reintegrating victims smoothly into society, said an announcement.

The project is part of the national strategy for the prevention and combatting of domestic violence.

It is also expected to contribute to the strengthening of bi-communal cooperation, by accommodating victims from both communities.

MORE THAN 500,000 Cypriots are being invited to vote in the European elections on May 25 to elect six representatives to the European Parliament for 2014-2019 period.

According to an EU statement there are just 100 days left until the first polling stations open and 400 million Europeans cast their votes to elect a total of 751 MEPs who will take up their seats in July.

Cyprus is one of only four member states where voting is compulsory, though choosing not to vote no longer results in any penalties. Under EU law, voting is not compulsory. The other three countries to implement this, are Greece, Luxembourg and Belgium.

In the face of the economic crisis the elections will give voters the chance to contribute to the decision of strengthening or changing the direction that Europe takes, said the statement.

This will also be the first time that the new European Parliament will determine who will lead the next European Commission term. EU government leaders will propose a candidate for the post of the future Commission President based on the election results.

The new political majority that is to emerge will also shape European legislation over the next five years in areas from the single market to civil liberties.

The Parliament is now being referred to as ‘a linchpin’ in terms of European decision-making and is also being reported to have equal say with national governments on virtually all EU laws. According to the statement, voters are being given more power than ever before.

By Peter Stevenson

SOME 5,000 people have been hired to work in the retail industry since last July as a result of the extended shop opening hours, Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou said on Monday.

Speaking following a meeting of the House labour committee, Emilianidou said the move had helped the fight against unemployment.

She said that previous legislation which had established tourist areas – allowing only shops on certain streets to open on Sunday and Saturday – was against any healthy competition and the principle of equal treatment.

“It would be wrong for businesses on one specific road to remain open but on the neighbouring roads businesses cannot,” she said.

Emilianidou said she is continuing discussion to ensure a balance to safeguard workers rights, to support small businesses and for those 5,000 people to keep their jobs.

Emilianidou did not respond to the committee’s proposal that shops be allowed to remain open on Saturdays but Sunday’s to be considered a public holiday, but said that if working hours were reduced then the 5,000 new workers would struggle to keep their jobs.

The minister told MPs that the government had already announced plans to fund small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with €300 million. Currently in effect, she added, is a plan which will cover 70 per cent of business payroll for any extra hours that are worked.

Committee chairman Andreas Fakontis said that during the meeting SME representatives said they were deeply concerned about the future of their businesses.

“The new working hours are killing SMEs and leading them to closure. The unfair competition between large and small businesses creates too many problems, hindering the continued existence of SMEs – the backbone of the economy,” he said.

Fakontis added that there is infringement and circumvention of working conditions and working hours and even the minimum wage, despite an agreement that this would not happen.

“The labour ministry is incapable of checking adequately whether this agreement is being kept,” he said.

The labour ministry issued a decree in July last year allowing shops outside tourist areas to remain open until later on weekdays, Saturdays and also on Sunday. Shops must cover at least half of the extra hours by hiring unemployed people registered with the labour ministry’s flexible unemployment scheme.

By Peter Stevenson

THE number of inmates at the Central Prisons has fallen to 551 from roughly 700 following recent measures and early releases, chairman of the House human rights committee Sophocles Fyttis said on Monday.

But he warned much more needed to be done. The committee met to discuss the work of the parole board and how to implement community service. Fyttis said that the capacity of the prison had increased to 440 positions from 370, adding that the open prison scheme is part of the system.

The parole board began working in June of last year.Prisoners can be released if the parole board approves their application once they have completed at least half of their sentence if that sentence is more than two years or if they have served at least 12 years if they are lifers. The parole board is currently examining between 45 and 50 cases.

But Fyttis said that the board is facing some problems which prevents it from running smoothly.

“We have continuously pleaded with the justice ministry to call a meeting with all those involved – the parole board, the welfare department, prison management, the justice ministry and the finance ministry – to look at the budget. We have also asked that electronic ankle monitors be introduced. The board has also suggested improvements to the law and we have established that there is a delay in studying applications for parole,” he said.
A suggestion was also made that before convicts are allowed out on parole that they serve a stint in the open prison.

Fyttis said another meeting will be held in six weeks’ time to assess progress.

EDEK MP Roulla Mavronicola said that many problems that exist could be solved if prison management, the parole board and the justice ministry coordinated better.

“We find it unacceptable that electronic ankle monitors were purchased a year and a half ago for prisoners and they cannot be used because the law prohibits their use,” she said.

She said the law needed to be changed urgently as part of measures urgently needed in the wake of five recent suicides at the central prisons.

The committee also discussed implementing community service instead of time in prison.

Fyttis said judges were gradually being convinced that handing out community service instead of prison time could benefit hundreds of people.

Community services can be carried out at libraries, municipalities, parks, volunteer groups, schools amongst others.

“It is a positive move which can help relieve the burden on prisons,” Fyttis said.