Nicos Anastasiades, the President of Cyprus has publicly apologized for the pardon and subsequent early release of a man, who was previously convicted on grounds of sexually exploiting a minor.
Speaking at an event on fighting sexual abuse against minors, the Cypriot President went off-script and admitted that the decision was indeed hushed and not thought out as properly as it should have been. He added that the error was caused by his belief that sex offenders who were convicted of abused minors above the age of 13 could be released before their due along with other eligible convicts in line with a custom to grant pardons on a new president’s election.
The President was clearly unhappy with the state of affairs and voiced his feelings by saying that corrective steps had been undertaken to make sure that no future president will ever make the same mistake.
The sex offender, who was released six months before his scheduled release after a three-year sentence caused widespread public scorn.
