A bill to amend electoral legislation and protect citizens’ freedom of expression was discussed by the House Interior Committee. After the meeting, AKEL MP and committee chair Aristos Damianou said the proposal fulfilled a relevant commitment.
Damianou said that in recent weeks citizens had been summoned to Police Headquarters to provide explanations as part of a possible criminal investigation over posts they had made before the parliamentary elections or on election day.
He said Article 63 of the Law on the Election of Members of the House of Representatives was outdated and had not previously led to criminal prosecutions. Since the executive branch had chosen to activate it, he added, legislation was considered necessary to safeguard freedom of speech and expression, which are guaranteed by the Constitution, without ordinary citizens facing the threat of prosecution.
'Citizens who express their opinions in good faith should not be punished'
The proposal provides for ending the criminalisation of ordinary citizens’ public statements and social media posts. People who influence public life would be excluded from the provision so that the electoral process is not affected. The proposal also excludes paid or covert advertising.
The committee chair clarified that the proposal is not final and is a working document for discussion. To define those who exert influence, it refers to the legislation on asset declarations and the concept of a Politically Exposed Person. As he said, the provision concerns people whose presence in public life is such that their views can have an influence, from influencers to other individuals. The committee is ready to hear proposals to expand the bill.
Damianou said that a similar proposal by the ALMA Movement was also under discussion. He expressed satisfaction at the agreement in principle from the executive branch and, as he said, from a majority or possibly all of the parties. The Interior Ministry has fifteen days to submit comments, while, according to him, the parties aim to move forward collectively to modernise the legislative framework. He also said that an ex officio discussion on the same issue had previously taken place at the initiative of the DIKO president.
The changes will not apply retroactively. Citizens who have been summoned will be judged under the legislation currently in force, Damianou said.
He added that, had the possibility of criminal prosecutions against ordinary citizens not arisen for the first time, the “dead” provision might have remained inactive. He called on the executive branch and the Law Office not to punish citizens who, as he said, had expressed an opinion in good faith about a democratic process.
The statement was made on 15 October 2026.
Source: CNA
