‘One of the biggest prison sentences for cannabis’

The supreme court upheld one of the biggest sentences handed down for transporting cannabis, as an appellant who received just over ten years imprisonment was unsuccessful in his bid to have it reduced.

The appellant was sentenced in 2020 to eight years and a consecutive sentence of 773 days in prison after being found guilty of transporting 996.8 grammes of cannabis and €925. The latter penalty kicked in for violating the terms of a presidential pardon, which he received after being convicted for previous crimes.

The state legal service announced on Monday that the sentence was upheld by the supreme court on Friday, noting that: “[It] constitutes one of the biggest prison sentences which have been imposed in Cyprus for such a quantity and for this type of drug.”

The appellant had two previous convictions for similar crimes and had only recently been released from prison. The supreme court ruled that the sentence imposed by Larnaca-Famagusta criminal court was appropriate under the circumstances.