HC Deb 24 November 1948 vol 458 cc1237-8
40. Mr. Piratin

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies on what charge, and under what law, the mayor of Famagusta, Cyprus, was recently fined £100.

Mr. Creech Jones

The mayor of Famagusta was charged under the Assemblies, Meetings and Processions Law, about which my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary gave information on 17th November in reply to the question by the hon. Member for Finsbury (Mr. Platts-Mills). The mayor had been granted a permit to address a meeting on the building workers' strike. He pleaded guilty in the court and was fined for deviating from the terms of the permit.

Mr. Piratin

Does the Minister tell the House that a mayor was fined £100 for making a speech in his own town; and can he say what kind of law it is which exists in a Colony of the British Commonwealth which forbids a mayor to speak in his own town?

Mr. Creech Jones

The mayor in question had already been charged and convicted nine times for similar offences.