The Supreme Court ordered that a Syrian, in custody for the past 18 months pending his deportation for reasons of national security, be released.

In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court had considered the Syrian’s application for a Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum – great writ – “justified”.

The applicant’s position was that the length of his detention was unjustified and illegal and thus requested that the Supreme Court issue the great writ, since the authorities had made no move to deport him.

The Syrian had been held since January 23, 2023.

On that day, the applicant’s prison sentence had expired.

He had been sentenced to two years in prison for “observing training for carrying out terrorism acts from an unknown date till January 3, 2021”.

The Syrian had arrived in Cyprus in February 2017 and had applied for international protection.

In July 2018, he had been granted complementary protection and later on received a residence permit, which expired in October 2020.

When his complementary protection was revoked in January 2021, he filed a request for the decision’s annulment.

“Three years after submitting the application for annulment, he has been vindicated,” the ruling reads.

The court dismissed a pre-trial appeal on behalf of a Law Office lawyer.

The Supreme Court said denying freedom must be of the least length possible.

It added that “it does not seem feasible at the present stage to deport” the applicant to his own country.

Furthermore, it said the authorities did not seem to have taken any actions to send the applicant to countries of his choice.

The court also ruled that the applicant cannot be held responsible for the delay.

The Supreme Court deemed the Syrian’s application justified and issued the Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum, ordering the authorities “to release him at once.”