25 deputies voted in favor against 14, while there was also one abstention
The Plenary of the Parliament passed a law that allows the identification of the owners and users of prepaid airtime mobile telephony equipment and services for the purposes of safeguarding security and protecting public order and citizens from committing criminal acts.
25 MPs voted in favor against 14, while there was also one abstention. The relevant law proposal was submitted by the Chairman of the Transport, Communications and Communications Committee, Marino Musiutta, on behalf of the Democratic Party-Cooperation of Democratic Forces,
The proposal was submitted for the first time in 2009 by former MPs Angelos Votsis and Georgios Prokopiou, however, was then reinstated by Mr. Mousioutta. The Plenary rejected AKEL's request to postpone the discussion of the issue.
In his statement to the Plenary, DIKO Member of Parliament Christos Orfanidis stated that today's passing of the law may lead to even one life being saved.< /p>
EDEK Member of Parliament Ilias Myrianthous stated that they are in favor of the law because it will resolve many security issues for the place, while personal data issues have also been regulated.
DIKO Member of Parliament Zacharias Koulias said that it is highly unacceptable that someone can commit criminal acts and not be traceable by phone.
AKEL Member of Parliament Aristos Damianou stated that only the naive can think that the state services do not have the ability to monitor anyone and expect from the prepaid. He said, however, that this legislation should also be passed in order to remove yet another fig for the inadequacy of the prosecuting authorities.
The MP of the Environmental Citizens Cooperation Movement Stavros Papadouris expressed the hope that the law will be passed today and he said that maybe at the end of the day this tool will strip some situations. However, he added, it would be good to give, noting that crime is far ahead of the police.
MP Marinos Mousioutas said that after 16 years a proposal of former colleagues that went through a thousand waves ends up in the Plenary. He referred to the need for immediate passage of the legislation, while saying that it is not a panacea and will not eliminate crime, but it is a serious tool in the hands of law enforcement and can save a life. He also mentioned that these mobile phone cards have entangled the name of the Republic of Cyprus in international centers of illegality. He assured that the law had been scrutinized by both the Personal Data Commissioner and the Electronic Communications Commissioner and he had been followed to the letter as he had been told.
AKEL Member of Parliament Giorgos Loukaidis stated that AKEL will vote against the law after identifying serious weaknesses. He spoke about the need to always observe the principle of proportionality. He added that rights have been denied in the name of security and that the Parliament allowed four years ago to monitor telecommunications by court order, which has not been implemented to date.
It was asked how this law can prevent maintaining anonymity when today there are so many applications that allow communication without needing a phone number.
DISY MP Dimitris Dimitriou said that if the law had been passed in 2009 it would have had much more value than today with the existing ones technological capabilities that exist. He also expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the police, since 50 months after the surveillance law was passed, the law has not yet been implemented. He added that even the disconnection of the mobile phone signal in the Central Prisons has not yet been achieved. Despite the concerns about how effective the measure will be, he said that they cannot fail to put another tool in the hands of the authorities to deal with organized crime, migrant smuggling rings and cyber-attacks.
