Cyprus diplomat jailed for sexual harassment

NICOSIA, Jan 9 (Reuters) A former Cypriot diplomat was jailed for seven months for sexually harassing female subordinates.

Costas Papadimas, who served as Cyprus's ambassador to Sweden between 2001 and 2005, was found guilty of 23 counts relating to sexual harassment and indecent assault.

Papadimas, 51, denied the charges. It was the first time a sexual harassment case had gone to a criminal court in Cyprus.

''The behaviour of the accused was, mildly speaking, deplorable,'' the Criminal Court said in its verdict statement.

The plaintiffs were two women employed at the embassy. The ambassador said he had had an affair with one of them and she turned on him when he broke off the relationship.

An anonymous survey of 1,407 women by an Cypriot employers' group published last year showed up to 16 per cent reported either indecent proposals or being sexually harassed at work.

REUTERS LL SSC1054