Filenews 11 September 2021 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
The Council of Ministers requested the review of the list of those holding a firearms license from the Minister of Justice Stefi Drakou, while at the same time he raised the issue of changing the legislation in order to get rid of the responsibility for approving the licenses. As a result of this, as well as the issue that has arisen recently with a Russian businessman who took Cypriot citizenship in 2016 and at the same time was given a gun license (plus his two private guards) while he is wanted in his country, the Ministry decided to try to put order on the issue.
According to information provided by "F", today, dozens of persons, politicians, businessmen, former members of the Police, journalists and citizens hold a firearms license, with the agreement of the Minister and after the establishment of the Police Security Committee and approved by the Minister of Justice.
The list also includes political figures, such as MPs (current and former) state officials and others, whose lives have been at times put at risk either by threats or by the nature of their duties.
The Council of Ministers also asked for consideration to be given to the issue of amending the legislation so that it does not approve the firearms licences. And this does not seem to be irrelevant to the issue with the 40-year-old Russian, holder of Cypriot and British citizenship, Dmitry Tsvetkov and the criticism received by the Government. He got a gun license in 2017 with permission from the Cabinet and shortly afterwards two more for his guards. The Russian is wanted by the authorities of his country and his case is mentioned in the naturalization report. The Ministry does not want to be "charged" for every approval it gives, since it is in fact formal and approves a request of the Police.
