Cyprus: 98-year-old faces gambling charge
Mar 1, 2012, 11:05 AM
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) – The daughter of a 98-year-old woman says her mother is among some 40 elderly ladies ordered to appear in a Cyprus court later this month to face a gambling charge after police raided their poker party more than two years ago.
Yioula Diakonti told state radio Thursday that the women, most of them in their 70s, were stunned to receive a court summons this week.
Diakonti said the women are surprised that they are being prosecuted for what she said was penny ante gambling. She said two of the women have since died and another two are now in a nursing home.
Gambling in Cyprus punishable by up to six months in jail or a euro750 ($1,000) fine.
A prosecutor says the women may be pardoned as attorney general looks at the case again.
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