82-year-old shooter freed from jail

The 82-year-old who was jailed for shooting a cable thief in March has been handed a presidential pardon and is a free man, presidential press officer Victor Papadopoulos said on Monday.

Papadopoulos told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that President Nikos Christodoulides signed the pardon after having attained the agreement of attorney-general George Savvides and deputy attorney-general Savvas Angelides.

President Nikos Christodoulides had issued instructions to the legal service to issue the man a pardon within 24 hours of his sentencing, but the intricacies of Cyprus’ constitution mean that a presidential pardon is not a unilateral decision.

The final decision regarding a pardon must be taken by the president of the day in tandem with the Legal Service and with the agreement thereof.

The fourth annex of Article 53 of the constitution states that the president or the vice president can “remit, suspend, or commute any sentenced passed by a court in the Republic”.

However, it stipulates that this can only be done “on the unanimous recommendation of the attorney-general and the deputy attorney-general”.

The Legal Service had initially been unmoved by Christodoulides’ instructions, leading to the government exerting further pressure on them.

Deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou said the Legal Service’s “initial reaction” was “not in line with the opinion of the president”.

This, he said, is “why the president disagrees with this approach of the Legal Service, which sees the issue in purely legal terms.”

“While the president’s intervention had a different motive, it arose for humanitarian reasons,” he added.

However, the Legal Service’s stance on the matter has since softened and evolved.

Its evolving opinion seemed to manifest itself in the latest appeal submitted to court by the 82-year-old last week, with deputy attorney-general saying in court that the Legal Service would not object to the man’s sentence being suspended.

Speaking to Alpha television after the conclusion of court proceedings, the man’s lawyer Maria Neophytou said she is now awaiting the attorney-general’s position on the matter of a presidential pardon.

The man had been sentenced to two and a half years behind bars after having been convicted of intending to cause serious bodily harm and carrying and using a firearm.

The shooting had taken place in the Limassol village of Alassa last June. The 82-year-old exited his house during a power outage to check the main supply panel and took a hunting rifle and a cartridge with him for protection.

He then realised that someone else was on his property and winding an electric wire. He then approached the perpetrator and shouted at him, before firing a shot, which hit him in the back.

The thief was initially hospitalised and intubated, but later made a full recovery.