A 42 year old Jordanian man was jailed for two and half years by Limassol Criminal Court for abducting his three children without their mother’s consent and taking them to the Turkish occupied areas earlier this year, triggering a police operation to find them.
They were tracked down the following day through the Bicommunal Contact Committee in the Turkish occupied north, handed over to the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus and reunited with their mother
The parents are separated and the father admitted to abducting the children — aged 12, six and four — and taking them north with the aim of travelling to Jordan. He said he hoped in this way to oblige his estranged wife to join them there.
The defendant had pleaded guilty to abducting a child from legal custody and failing to comply with a court order .
In handing down sentence, the court noted the gravity of the offences and stressed the need for a sentence that would act as a deterrent and make clear that such behaviour is unacceptable.
The court spoke of a well-planned scheme to abduct the three children. In mitigation, it took into consideration the man’s personal and familiy circumstances, his immediate admission and apology and his clean record.
