In 2003, an Indian student was hauled before the courts and slapped with 20 days in prison for nicking a pastry from a Nicosia bakery. At least he’d have food sorted for 20 days. Maybe even something sweet.
A few years later, a 70-year-old was arrested for stealing a packet of chicken from a supermarket. Dragged to court and fined €250, he claimed he’d done it to feed his grandchild.
This column wrote at the time: “Let’s say he doesn’t have a grandchild to feed, and he’s simply a thief who pinched a piece of chicken worth six euros. Is the offence really so grave that it requires mobilising the supermarket’s staff and management, the police, and the courts? How much did that six-euro chicken cost the state? In this entire process, was there not one human being to say ‘enough’?”.
The day before yesterday, in the year 2025, my colleague Fanis Makrides wrote about the case of a dairy company employee who’d been dragged through the courts for five years over the alleged theft of an unknown quantity of milk cartons.
The man was reported by a bakery employee for supposedly removing six cartons and returning only four during a routine exchange of milk products nearing their expiry date. When the discrepancy was pointed out, he put it down to a mistake, apologised, and added two more cartons to the shelves.
Nonetheless, he was reported to the police, with the complainants handing over CCTV footage from four days showing the delivery man swapping products. The case went to court.
Eighteen appearances followed (naturally, the man lost his job), yet it was never proven whether he failed to replace the quantities he removed—or if he did it, why he did it.
The back-and-forth dragged on for five years until the Law Office gave instructions to close the case, after the public prosecutor who examined the footage judged that no safe conclusions could be drawn.
Over a pastry, a piece of chicken, two or ten milk cartons—the knife cuts to the bone. The police spring into action and the courts hand down exemplary sentences, whilst citizens tolerate no deviation whatsoever.
In all three cases, across the years, everyone acted with absolute discipline in their duty and the values that ought to govern a law-abiding place.
One could easily conclude that with such zeal in upholding the law and dispensing justice, everything in this country runs like clockwork. Nothing happens outside the legal framework. And if, by chance, something does slip through, the authorities enforce the law to the letter.
When it comes to petty pilferers, that is.
