A 23-year-old trans woman serving a six-year prison sentence for smuggling 890 grams of cocaine has been transferred to a separate area of the central prison, amid concerns she could be subjected to violence by other inmates.

Local media on Thursday reported that the Larnaca criminal court issued its ruling in the woman’s case on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old, who is legally recognised as a woman, is of Brazilian descent and reportedly does not speak Greek or English.

She had initially requested to be placed in the women’s wing of the central prison.

The prison department described her current placement as “temporary” and has reportedly issued special instructions for her supervision and protection while she accesses prison services and activities.

In a relevant letter, the department emphasised that the arrangement is provisional and justified on security grounds.

It rejected claims that refusing to place her in the women’s wing undermines her gender identity, stating that it adapts measures “based on human dignity, the prohibition of degrading treatment, equal treatment, and the maximum possible protection of all persons under its custody”.

The woman’s lawyer, Evanthia Constantinou appealed to the authorities to reassess the interim arrangement and follow European guidelines in order to establish a permanent solution that fully respects her client’s dignity.

Constantinou stressed that her client’s inability to communicate due to language barriers prevents her from engaging with others and effectively excludes her from educational or social programmes.

Serving her sentence in isolation, she warned, could lead to severe psychological distress and have serious negative effects on her mental health.

The court’s ruling reportedly took into account the woman’s background and the circumstances that led her to smuggle the drugs.

According to the court, she underwent her first gender-affirming surgery at the age of 14, which forced her to leave her hometown in Brazil and move to Sao Paulo. There, she lived with another trans person who was reportedly heavily indebted and later disappeared.

The woman said she began receiving threats from her flatmate’s creditors, which escalated to include threats against both herself and her family.

Left desperate to secure money, she agreed to transport drugs as a means of paying off the debt.

“Due to the defendant’s inability to find the required money, and the nature of the threats made against her – which included photographs and personal details of her relatives – she succumbed and accepted to transport the drugs,” the court was quoted as saying.

The woman was arrested at Larnaca airport on October 21 after arriving on a flight from Qatar.

Police later found more than half a kilogram of cocaine concealed in her underwear, as well as 35 packets of 10 grams each that she had swallowed and was forced to expel at Larnaca general hospital.

The Cyprus Mail attempted to contact the central prison, the association for the protection of prisoners’ rights, and the woman’s lawyer, but received no response.