The conclusion to one of the most harrowing cases to have gripped public opinion was reached the day before yesterday at the Paphos District Court.
However, behind this rare display of humanity from the usually unyielding Cypriot justice system lies a harsh truth that we must highlight. We must not forget that this man was subjected to three months of gruelling ordeal, on top of his deep grief and agonising remorse, as his passport was confiscated, he was placed on a stop list, 30, 000 euros were frozen, and was forced, just two days after the loss of his child, to set aside his grief in order to defend himself against a criminal justice system and public opinion that treated him, to a greater or lesser extent, as a human monster. The defence’s application for a stay of proceedings was unjustifiably rejected, with the result that three whole months that should have been devoted to healing the family’s wounds and coming to terms with their loss were instead lost in courtrooms and in anguish.
And as if all that were not enough, the social media arena rushed to tear the grief-stricken father to pieces, spreading speculation and those despicable reports (based on information leaked by the police) which made crude insinuations linking the tragic incident to the presence of alcohol in his blood. Fortunately, the court disregarded the speculation, finding that there was absolutely no evidence linking the tragedy to alcohol consumption. However, the damage had been done; in the minds of many of our fellow citizens, the image had taken root of a drunken father who threw his baby from the fourth floor. Exactly the same cannibalistic tendencies that we saw unfold in the unimaginable tragedy in Larnaca, where two little siblings perished inside a locked car. And there, too, a father (who had simply gone to work as he did every morning) was arrested, questioned and vilified by the police and the media, who ‘revealed’ that he had bought alcohol(!) the previous night (of course, this had nothing to do with the tragedy; it was simply a juicy detail that would stir up the familiar online mob of self-righteous moralists who tear apart any unfortunate soul who has the misfortune to experience a tragedy from which they themselves believe they are immune.
Against this bleak backdrop, the judge’s handling of the case was a glimmer of hope, as she approached the matter with respect for the human drama, assessing the facts and imposing the minimum possible sentence provided for by law. It is this justice with a human face that keeps us going; that is why it must not be a shining exception or a matter of chance depending on how much empathy the person sitting on the bench possesses, but must become the inviolable rule. A system that refuses to suspend the prosecution of a devastated parent, that prioritises bureaucracy over grief, and that takes three months to reach the obvious conclusion —that life has already imposed the ultimate punishment— is a heartless system in need of radical change.
The grief-stricken father is now free to mourn the untimely loss of his baby. ‘Free’, of course, is a relative term. He has escaped physical imprisonment, yet he knows that he has only just begun to serve his life sentence in the prison of his own remorse...
Source: JUSTICE WITH A HUMAN FACE: THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED
