Appeals Court Increases Sentences in Drug Framing Case

The Cyprus Court of Appeal recognized that the case involving the planting of drugs to falsely accuse an innocent person involved an especially serious and premeditated scheme, and increased the prison sentences of the main defendant. The court largely supported the position of the Attorney General, who had appealed the first-instance verdicts, considering them too lenient.

The case had previously been heard by the Larnaca Court for Serious Crimes. Four people were initially involved, but proceedings continued fully only against two defendants. One of them played a key role in organizing the crime.

The case was rooted in a personal conflict. A woman, disapproving of her daughter’s romantic relationship with a young student, decided to end the relationship at any cost. She conspired with the main defendant and another accomplice.

The plan was to secretly plant drugs in the student’s car and then report it to the police. When the car was stopped, authorities indeed found 43 packets of cocaine totaling nearly 20 grams. The drugs had been hidden so the driver could not notice them.

As a result, the young man, who had no connection to the drugs, was arrested and held for eight days before the truth came to light.

The Appeals Court described the defendants’ actions as an “extreme form of malice,” emphasizing that they deliberately endangered the freedom, reputation, and future of an innocent person—and did so for a trivial personal motive.

The court noted that the particular danger lay not only in possessing drugs but in using them as a tool to fabricate a criminal case. According to the judges, this seriously undermines the justice system.

Initially, the main defendant received relatively lenient sentences—ranging from six months to two years of imprisonment, to be served concurrently. The Appeals Court deemed such punishments disproportionate to the severity of the crimes.

Consequently, the sentence was revised as follows:

• 18 months’ imprisonment — for conspiracy to cause harm,
• 3 years and 6 months — for illegal possession of Class A drugs,
• 18 months — for conspiracy to obstruct justice.

The terms will be served concurrently, as the offenses were considered part of a single criminal activity.

However, the Appeals Court did not overturn the acquittal on the money laundering charge. Despite the defendant’s confessions, the court found there was no independent evidence proving the illegal origin of the €10,000 sum.