Supreme Court releases Iranian detained on national security grounds

The Supreme Court has ordered the release of an Iranian man detained for 23 months pending deportation on national security grounds, ruling that his continued detention was not justified.

In a recent decision made known on Monday, the court issued a Habeas Corpus warrant for the Iranian who had entered Cyprus legally in 2002 and recognised as a refugee in 2004.

In 2009 he applied for naturalisation and in November 2023 he was detained pending deportation, suspected of operating on behalf of Iranian terrorists with the aim of murdering Israeli nationals.

He was issued a Cypriot biometric passport in 2024 to facilitate deportation procedures.

The Iranian filed two Habeas Corpus applications, which were rejected in July and October 2024.

Following a series of appeals, he then lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court regarding the legality of the duration of his detention for deportation purposes.

The Supreme Court took into consideration the fact that the appellant was recognised as a refugee, that he wished to be deported to a third country and Malaysia had accepted him, and the fact that the authorities “for unknown reasons did not proceed with the removal of the appellant, choosing to leave the latter in detention”.