No parole board to process dozens of applications

DOZENS of parole applications have been shelved because qualified individuals are not interested in serving on the parole board, the House human rights committee has heard.
Earlier this week, the justice ministry informed legislators that the cabinet had not yet found anyone to replace the previous board’s members whose term expired on June 24.
The members of the previous board did not express an interest in carrying on citing “other obligations,” the justice ministry’s permanent secretary, Stelios Chimonas told the House.
The former parole board chairman Giorgos Mettouris told the Cyprus Mail that when he left in June, there were about 50 pending applications by convicts who wanted early release.
“The reason I didn’t want to carry on is because I became tired,” said Mettouris when asked to explain why he did not continue his term.
Mettouris, a 66-year-old Limassol resident, said he wanted to enjoy a “carefree life” without the worries and anxieties that come with being the chairman of the parole board.
But he said that he had suggested to the justice ministry to consider making law amendments so that they do not have to rely on former judges.
By law, the parole board needs to include one former judge.
Mettouris said that few judges retire every year, with Supreme Court judges sometimes working until the age of 68, and so it is understandable they might want to relax on retirement. “Life is short after all,” he said.
Asked whether the roughly €60 per board meeting is too low a remuneration to be enticing to judges who make more on their pension, Mettouris said that to him the fee was “neither an incentive nor a disincentive”.
“It was an honour to be asked to chair the board,” he said.
The justice ministry told the House this week they needed to discuss law amendments with the state legal services, but would not elaborate.
The first – and so far only – board was set up in 2010 after one lifer challenged the system at the European Court of Human Rights.
Until then, only the attorney-general or the President of the Republic could release prisoners early.
Asked whether he or the board were threatened or intimidated by friends or families of convicts, Mettouris said that convicts and their families were appreciative and supportive.
“The truth is that the families have been very understanding,” he said adding that the central prison management even noticed that convicts were better behaved once the parole system was in place. “I was never threatened,” Mettouris said.
During Mettouris’ term the board granted early release to seven convicts, rejected four and looked at well over 100 more applications filed by prisoners who did not fulfil the criteria and so were rejected outright.
Mettouris said that although problems and adjustments are inevitable, “the structure is there now” for whoever wants to take over.
“We started the board from scratch and successfully resolved problems such as a lack of probation officers. There was literally nothing before,” Mettouris said adding that he was sorry to go. “It was like my child,” he said.
To qualify for early release, convicts need to have completed half their sentence. Lifers need to serve at least 12 years, and those serving successive sentences need to complete 25 years.
The human rights committee has asked to be updated on the parole board in March.