Brazilian man deported after jail release despite civil partnership

A Brazilian man was deported on Monday Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said, despite having a signed civil partnership with a Cypriot.

The two men, Enzo (from Brazil) and Kevork (from Cyprus) were both inmates at the central prison in Nicosia, where last January they were the first couple in prison to sign a civil partnership.

Kevork and Enzo met in the prison in 2015, where the first was serving a sentence for break-ins and theft and the second for drug smuggling.

Enzo was originally sentence to ten years but was released after five. After being released, he was picked up by the police and taken to holding in Oroklini and then in Paphos for deportation.

On Monday, Nouris told Alpha News Enzo remaining in Cyprus did not serve the best interests of the public.

He said the deportation order was signed by the ministry, and he was deported earlier in the day.

“No institutions took interest in my partner’s case, clearly because he is homosexual and there were no interventions to stop the deportation process,” Kevork said in an open letter on Saturday.

Kevork added in instances of straight couples, such measures are not taken. He cited as an example a foreign woman, who after serving a drug sentence was not deported.