Safe Pass violators jailed until trial next week

Two young men arrested in connection with Safe Pass violations will remain locked up during Christmas after a judge in Limassol ordered both holder and user of the same vaccination document behind bars until trial.

A Limassol district court judge on Thursday ordered two men aged 27 and 21 in pretrial detention until their arraignment next week, where they will answer to misdemeanor and criminal impersonation charges.

Local media said police officers arrested the 27-year-old male after checking his documents at a local store in Limassol and determined he had been using a Safe Pass that belonged to a 21-year-old man, who was also detained.

Police told Knews the case was filed on Thursday following their arrest but the judge scheduled a fact-finding hearing for December 29 when sentences would also be announced.

It was not clear whether the two men, described as foreign nationals, had a bail hearing on Thursday.

The arrests took place after police officers said they were on health inspections when they approached a suspicious individual and determined he was hiding his real identity.

It later turned out that the 27-year-old was using a vaccination document belonging to the 21-year-old, who was said to be fully vaccinated.

Knews has learned that door greeters have been failing to inspect ID cards of customers during Safe Pass inspections, leaving the task to police due to a legal loophole.

But last month police spokesperson Christos Andreou insisted that Safe Pass door greeters need to check identification documents of customers who present a mandatory QR code at the entrance.

An article in the emergency health law allows door greeters to request to see an ID but it does not call on them to request proof of identification.