The decision of the Nicosia District Court regarding the detention conditions of the late Kostas Papakostas is a damning condemnation of the former government ruling forces.
Kostas Papakostas was led to his death by the decisions of the then Anastasiades-DISY government and the prison authorities. The government of DISY and Nikos Anastasiades, former Justice Minister Ionas Nikolaou and governor of the Central Prison Anna Aristotelous bear a grave responsibility. They have disregarded guaranteed human rights, the recommendations and appeals that were issued by doctors and even elementary human decency. We recall that not only was the seriously ill Kostas Papakostas banned for two years from having any right to yard time, but he was even banned from attending his daughter’s memorial service.
The exhausting and inhumane treatment meted out to Kostas Papakostas – treatment that no other human being has ever received in a similar case – shows the extent of the pettiness of those responsible. It also reveals their vindictiveness, their political expediency and their authoritarianisms, which evidently refer to other moments in Cypriot history, when Kostas Papakostas was defending democracy and the constitutional order.