No comments are needed. I’m simply noting what Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis said verbatim at the Parliamentary Legal Committee, where organised crime was discussed behind closed doors. I’ll clarify his phrases from among many other words:
“Organised crime existed, exists and will continue to exist”.
“Organised crime will never be eradicated”.
“In the past, the majority of crimes happened at night, while now they happen even during the day”.
“Organised crime evolves regarding the methods followed from time to time”.
“To some degree, the increase in crime in Cyprus is due to foreign elements”.
“Mobile phones and drugs are a perennial problem in prisons. It will never be permanently resolved”.
“The elimination of mobile phones is not a panacea for preventing organised crime from being orchestrated from prisons”.
“We shouldn’t be overly optimistic that we’ll eliminate drugs and mobile phones”.
This is something like a confession of absolute failure. Fair enough, he didn’t forget to say that efforts are being made, that it’s the state’s obligation to take measures in order “to limit the spread of organised crime to the greatest possible extent”, that “special units have been established in the police” and such things.
The essence is that we now have an official admission from the responsible minister that organised crime will always exist and will never be eradicated. Not even the problem with mobile phones and drugs in prisons will be permanently resolved.
Despite it being well-known to everyone and proven that from inside there, both organised and disorganised crime is controlled to some degree. Meaning they have them confined and still can’t manage them.
Of course, if this was said by a minister in Italy or America or Russia, it would be more or less understandable. In Cyprus, however, a handful of people comparatively, and a tiny patch of land, an island at that, with controlled entry points (even from the buffer zone), it’s tragic to hear this.
And even worse to hear that the Police have data, they’ve mapped the various factions operating in all districts, they know individuals, they know who’s leading, and they know which sectors they operate in. As if it matters that they know rather than that they act. What good are plans and maps if there’s no result!
The issue isn’t to realise that organised crime has always existed and will continue to exist. The issue is that in Cyprus, this tiny patch, it has now taken on dimensions larger than those it had in Chicago during the time of Al Capone.
Many times citizens feel that at every turn there’s a faction, there’s a Godfather, protection, drugs, murders, bombs, robberies, weapons…
The Police, to address the situation, are asking for cameras on the streets and phone tapping. When we couldn’t even manage to acquire a mobile phone deactivation system for prisons.
Since they know them, though, they’ve mapped them, let them round them up to feel the breath of the Police, as they say in films. If they want to, they can find reasons. Or let them monitor them so they can’t take a step.
Waiting for cameras on the streets, as if mobsters will do their business where there are cameras, is a ridiculous excuse. While waiting for cameras and telephone conversation monitoring, organised crime now controls both night and day!
The law for phone tapping was passed in 2020. It wasn’t implemented because after its passing, technical and legal gaps were identified. These days, the necessary changes were made, and the bill was sent to the Attorney General’s office for review from the Ministry of Justice.
Can someone explain to us, since they consider it a very important weapon against organised crime, why it took five years to make the changes and push it forward? Five whole years! That’s how urgent they are to fight the factions!
