Supreme court rules detention of Lebanese national unlawful due to deportation uncertainty

On September 15, 2026, the Supreme Court of Cyprus ordered the immediate release of a Lebanese national who had been detained for over a year for the purpose of deportation. The court ruled that the detention was unlawful because the Lebanese authorities refused to accept the individual, making the timing and feasibility of his repatriation highly uncertain.

The applicant, who entered Cyprus via the occupied territories, had his international protection application rejected in 2019. In September 2021, he was sentenced by the Paphos Assize Court to 18 months in prison for crimes including conspiracy to commit a felony and causing grievous bodily harm. Deportation and detention orders had been active against him since 2022. Notably, he had previously been released in October 2023 following a Habeas Corpus petition before being detained again.

Separately, in a different case involving a Syrian national held since September 2025, the court upheld the detention as lawful. In that instance, the court determined that the authorities were actively pursuing deportation and that the detention remained necessary to prevent flight, dismissing the applicant's claims regarding procedural failures.