Student detained for illegal residency after going to report a fire incident to the police

A student has been sent to prison for a period of 15 days until trial after he was found living in north Cyprus without a resident permit.

The individual, CDN, 36, a Nigerian was arrested by the police at around 9:45pm on Tuesday May 14 when he went to the police to report a vehicle fire incident in Lefkosia.

He was taken to court on Wednesday charged with illegal residency.

Police said he entered the country with a student visa on August 30, 2021 and did not try to get a resident permit. During the immigration control, it was determined that he stayed in the TRNC without a residence permit for 929 days from November 2021 to May 14, 2024.

Police stated that the investigation conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed that the suspect had no residence permit. The police requested that he be tried in pretrial detention.

Evaluating the testimony in court, the judge stated that the crime of residence permit is a crime that carries a prison sentence of up to 6 months and is becoming more common day by day, and ordered the suspect to be sent to prison for a period not exceeding 15 days.