Student's prison sentence raises questions on schools who offer admission and permit to students who don't attend classes

The Lefkosa Heavy Penal Court has sentenced a female student to 18 months in prison, after she was found guilty of drug crime, a case that drew attention to institutions who give admissions and grants students permits without students attending classes.

The verdict was delivered on Monday.

The defendant was charged with the possession and sale of 24 MDMA type narcotic pills, 35 'amphetamine' type drugs and 40 green prescription 'tramadol' drugs in 2021.

The court, in particular, drew attention to the criminal tendency of foreign students, who generally do not attend any classes after enrolling in universities and obtaining a residence permit; He pointed out that school administrations should be more meticulous in the student admission process.

Stating that the accused who was registered at a particular school failed to renew her registration, became illegal and then decided to enroll at a “language school” and renewed her residence permit while the case was on going.

The court board stated that the language school where the defendant was enrolled should be examined and the Ministry of Education would be informed about this.

Delivering his judgement, the judge stated that the defendant who wanted to benefit from the Probation Law was not a TRNC citizen, but was in the north of Cyprus with a student residence permit, and that the request to benefit from the law in question was “To stay in the TRNC? Or is it for treatment purposes?” He said his questions should be examined.

The judge stated that after the trial in which the accused was convicted came to the fore, she "registered at the Alphalec Language and Education Center, where she never attended classes," and received a residence permit.

Stating that they observed that the accused fell into the "non-residence permit" status on September 30, 2021, since she was not registered at another university before. "At the same time, the defendant got involved in the crime and requested probation by enrolling in a language school and obtaining a student residence permit after the issue came to the fore, the judge said.

Saying that it is unacceptable for a foreign student who came to the TRNC to study in the TRNC to end up in prison, the judge noted that the defendant was in prison while the case was being discussed, but that the language school manager he had just enrolled in said that he "made an exception" regarding this development.

“This raises serious questions about the foreign student admission policy of the relevant language school. For this reason, we believe that the matter should be brought to the knowledge of the Ministry of National Education in order to investigate this matter, the judge said,

Stating that people with a tendency to commit crimes enroll in schools in the northern part of Cyprus, although they do not intend to study, the judge said, “Although these foreigners do not renew their school registration after a while, they can easily legalize their status without a residence permit by re-registering to any school when they need it and they are gaining the necessary legal basis to stay in the TRNC.

Saying that educational institutions are abused in order to obtain a legal residence permit, the judge said, "We would like to remind you that educational institutions have important responsibilities in terms of showing due diligence when accepting foreign students." 

The judge announced that they rejected the request for probation because the defendant gave drugs to third parties. He said that the widespread use of drugs among young people caused concern, and touching upon all the issues for and against the accused, they unanimously sentenced her to 18 months in prison.

The Jude said “We find her guilty and sentence her in the cases in which she confessed to before the court.