COURTS PUTTING DRUG DEALERS BACK ON THE STREETS - MINISTER'S FURY AT LEGAL
LOOPHOLE

LEGAL loopholes are allowing drug traffickers to walk free pending trial,
enabling them to influence witnesses and continue plying their trade, the
Justice Minister said yesterday.

Doros Theodorou told the House Crime Committee that serious weaknesses in
the justice system were allowing convicted drug traffickers to stay free
for the duration of their trials, which often take years to finish.

The issue has reached added urgency in the wake of an unprecedented spate
of heroin deaths on the island.

Theodorou revealed that one drug dealer with seven convictions and a case
pending in court was currently out and about.

"I wonder how safe society feels if a drug dealer is allowed to stay free
for a long time, especially knowing that even if he were convicted again
the sentences would run concurrently," Theodorou said.

The committee heard that one dealer caught in Limassol in possession of
thousands of ecstasy tablets was still awaiting trial two years after his
initial arrest.

The minister stressed that the justice system was seriously flawed and that
the situation had to be dealt with immediately.

DISY deputy Ionas Nicolaou said the issue could not be dealt with by new
legislation and suggested that the authorities should take it up with the
Supreme Court.

He added that drug traffickers could be dealt with in the same way as
murder suspects and be held in custody until their trial.

Committee chairman Costas Papacostas warned the delays could give
traffickers the chance to expedite their activities and even threaten
police officers and witnesses whose testimony could put them behind bars.

Police are worried about increasing threats against their officers,
especially in light of recent revelations that traffickers had threatened
the life of a drug squad officer.

The minister said the issue emerged around two months ago.

An informer told the police that a specific officer was earmarked for
murder by a trafficker, the committee heard.

"Measures were taken to prevent this and I feel the issue has closed,"
Theodorou said.

He put the threats down to the increasing police activity, which had
apparently disturbed the drug dealers.

Theodorou noted that witnesses were rare and that drug traffickers usually
had to be caught red handed for police to secure a conviction.

"Witnesses possibly feel insecure but I think it's mostly the addiction,"
the minister said.

He suggested that users were not prepared to turn against their dealer
because it would mean losing their dose.

"Mothers even buy drugs for their children; addiction creates a
relationship of solidarity (between user and dealer)," Theodorou said.

Nicolaou stressed that the witness security issue needed to be examined
urgently and asked what protection the authorities offered witnesses to
assure them that it would be safe for them to testify before court.

AKEL deputy Kikis Yiangou went a step further, charging that the dealers
had their own informants within the force, warning them about imminent
operations.

The minister conceded there could be a problem within the force and even
revealed that an investigation was currently under way concerning one such
case.

Assistant to the chief of police Soteris Charalambous told the committee
that there had been five incidents of threats against officers this year
and five in 2003.

Three cases were recorded in 2002 and two in 2001, Charalambous said.

He said the drug squad got most of its information through surveillance,
informants and anonymous calls.

Charalambous said individual officers took their own protective measures.

Nicolaou insisted that there was no protection for witnesses, but Theodorou
countered that as far as he knew there had not been any leaks concerning
informants' identities.

But after the end of the meeting, Nicolaou told the Cyprus Mail that
undercover officers were being exposed because current legislation forced
them to testify before court in full public view.

Nicolaou said undercover officers should be protected through legislation,
maybe allowing them to testify remotely with their faces hidden and their
voices distorted.