Filenews 27 August 2024 - by Fanis Makrides
They employ foreigners illegally, in many cases the latter do not reside legally in the Republic, they are arrested by the Police, but they get away with it.
Serial offender employers are favoured due to the lack of investigative work by the Police, which results in them continuing their illegal plans unhindered, since their cases in the Courts "fall".
In fact, this condition also has indirect side effects. Apart from the fact that illegal businessmen are favoured by investigative work in a way that at least falls within the limits of scandal, there are also negative consequences for the justice system.
In many cases, Public Prosecutors find that there is insufficient testimony and begin to consider a possible suspension of criminal prosecution, entering into a lengthy process. Besides, the Courts waste valuable time, since they deal with cases that from the beginning are... doomed to fail.
Apocalyptic letter
What we record above is neither based on the basis of information nor conclusions. They arise from a letter sent by the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic to the leadership of the Police, the content of which is for the attention of "F".
This letter focuses on cases of illegal employment and illegal employment of foreigners, which are registered on an extraordinary basis, almost on a daily basis, mainly at the Famagusta District Court.
The content of what is noted has been forwarded by the leadership of the Police to all competent officers of the Police Force since the beginning of this month with the obvious aim of avoiding mistakes in the investigative work.
Over 10 points
What is surprising, however, are the striking mistakes made during the investigation by members of the Aliens and Immigration Service of the Police (YAM) concerning the area of free Famagusta.
By a competent prosecutor of the Republic who handles criminal matters, more than 10 points are made in relation to mistakes, which result in systematically exonerating them from any criminal responsibilities of businessmen in the region in question.
We present in detail what the labels say and are absolutely indicative of the problem:-
- When illegal aliens are found to work in a specific premises, no investigation is made to the Registrar of Companies or by the competent municipality to determine who is the person responsible or the owner of the premises so that there is a connection between the employer and the premises where the foreigners were found to be working illegally.
- No independent testimony is obtained from other employees, if any, to demonstrate employer relationship with illegal aliens, duration of employment, duties, salary and more.
- No investigative statements are taken from foreigners.
- No investigative statement is taken from the employer.
- Illegal aliens, after being arrested, are interrogated orally at the place, without first being explained and given their rights.
- If the alleged employer is at the place, he is called by telephone to the Police Station for the purpose of investigating the case.
- The Police consider satisfactory testimony before the employer only the fact that the foreigner(s) only mention a specific person as the employer, usually just a first name, without further explanation or his telephone number. It is considered self-evident that reference should be made to the way the accused employer is connected to the person-name mentioned by the suspected foreigners.
- If the alleged employer is at the place, he is called by telephone to the Police Station for the purpose of investigating the case.
The Police consider satisfactory testimony before the employer only the fact that the foreigner(s) only mention a specific person as the employer, usually just a first name, without further explanation or his telephone number. It is considered self-evident that reference should be made to the way the accused employer is connected to the person-name mentioned by the suspected foreigners.
- The Police consider that the testimony of a co-defendant alone is sufficient to convict a co-accused, ignoring basic principles of evidence in criminal proceedings.
- When the employer is not present to be considered to exercise some control and supervise the work carried out by foreigners, then all that exists is the hearsay testimony that the police officer of the Aliens and Immigration Service will convey to the Court that the accused foreigners indicated that the employer was someone named "X".
- In cases where the employer reports and presents relevant employment contracts and statements of payments with Social Insurance contributions for foreigners, no investigative action is taken through the competent Departments to determine whether or not the system was updated for the status of foreigners and seeks to correct the system.
- In cases of this nature, the recommendation of the Police is always the same, i.e. that there is satisfactory testimony against the employer and, they recommend the criminal prosecution of all. Even in cases where foreigners are legally employed and for some extraordinary reason the foreigner worked in different duties, then the recommendation is the same without going into the process of checking the witness material depending on the circumstances of the case.
Recommendations are made to improve investigative work
In the letter, the competent person of the Public Prosecutor's Office makes specific recommendations. The following passage is indicative: "There should be a full investigation to locate the testimony of all the accused. In case there is no testimony against the employers, the Police must take a stand and must recommend that they not be prosecuted to prevent unnecessary suffering of both the Court and all involved. Take it for granted that in order for there to be a positive outcome through criminal prosecution, a police investigation must be carried out in every direction to ensure satisfactory testimony for successful criminal prosecution, which is not currently the case."
744 convictions in 4 years
It should be noted that, according to official data, the problem with illegal employment in Cyprus remains acute. As revealed in the context of parliamentary scrutiny in 2022, from 2017 to 2021 a total of 774 employers were convicted of illegal employment, of which 21 ended up in prison. Another 26 employers in the same period were given suspended prison sentences, while the rest were fined.
The above data had come to light in March 2022, through a reply by the then Minister of Justice and Public Order, Stefi Drakou, following a question by AKEL MP George Koukoumas.
The answer to the parliamentary question revealed – inter alia – the following:
Between 2017 – 2021, the Police reported a total of 1,094 incidents of illegal employment as follows: Nicosia District – 177 complaints, Limassol District – 402 complaints, Paphos District – 122 complaints, Larnaka District – 132 complaints, Famagusta District – 242 complaints and Morphou District – 19 complaints.
