98-year-old Cypriot woman summoned to court over poker case

98-year-old Cypriot woman summoned to court over poker case

Friday, 2 March 2012

A 98-year-old is among a group of elderly women who have been summoned to a Cypriot court to face charges relating to illegal poker games.

Cypriot police raided a house in Limassol in 2009 after receiving complaints that a private house had been turned into a gambling club. The frequenters of this supposed den of iniquity turned out to be 42 young at heart female pensioners. Police recovered around €100 in stake money and confiscated playing cards and poker chips. Two of the women arrested in the original raid have since died and two more are in a nursing home.


Yioula Diakantoni, the daughter of the 98-year-old told the Associated Press, “They were playing with only very small sums of money, just to make it interesting. My mother has never done anyone harm and we hope she continues playing because it keeps her mind sharp.”


Gambling for money, even in a private home game is illegal in Cyprus, with the maximum penalty a 6-month jail term or a €750 fine.


According to AP, prosecutor Michalis Themistocleous said the summons was procedural but added the attorney general was looking at whether to proceed.



Tags: Law, Cyprus, court