Four MPs are on the list of high-profile people who have not paid their traffic fines for years.
According to daily Phileleftheros, no action has yet been taken against the exposed politicians who failed to settle their out-of-court fines, but a report drafted by the Audit Office is currently being prepared.
The article reports that a total of 23 warrants are pending against the four MPs and that the fines were issued between 2015 and 2020 for a grand amount of €5,374.
MPs have no immunity for traffic violations, a notion that was made clear a few years back in the case of now independent MP Andreas Themistokleous who was caught speeding more than once.
The former attorney-general had proceeded with the criminal prosecution against Themistokleous who was then with ruling Disy party for six cases of traffic violations, and he was forced to pay the fines.
Meanwhile, 69 police officers are also yet to pay for their traffic violation fines. Police chief Stelios Papatheodorou has instructed the directors of each district to urge them to settle their debts as soon as possible.
At the same time, police spokesman Christos Andreou said on Tuesday that all citizens requiring the assistance of the authorities will be checked first in order to make sure they do not have outstanding traffic fines to pay.
According to Andreou, at the moment, the amount of unpaid traffic violation fines in Cyprus has been estimated at almost €300,000.
Meanwhile, a meeting on the topic, presided by Justice Minister Stefi Drakou, was held on Tuesday, with the aim of finding solutions to mitigate the problem.
As mentioned in the meeting, last year due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the fact that citizens were not working all the time, actions to collect the fines owed dwindled.
Source: Four MPs among those who have not paid traffic fines | Cyprus Mail