Cyprus Mail 5 December 2020 - by Evie Andreou
Two Syrian men, aged 22 and 25, believed to be the main suspects in the murder last April of a 20-year-old man, were arrested on Saturday after being handed over from the north, where they fled.
The victim Jamal Alhadz, also from Syria, had been stabbed multiple times with a knife during an altercation in the Vrexi area on the coastal road between Chlorakas and Kato Paphos. The killing was related to matters of honour.
Several arrests were made in connection with the case, but two of the suspects had fled to the north.
After efforts through the bicommunal technical committee on crime the two men were handed over to the Republic’s authorities on Saturday. They were arrested in Nicosia and were to be transferred to Paphos.
According to earlier reports, one of the two who fled to the north is the husband of the woman the victim was accused of seeing and who is believed to be the perpetrator the murder.
Nine other suspects, between 19 and 31, all from Syria, had been arrested in connection with the case right after the body was found, but some of them said their aim was only to intimidate the 20-year-old to make him stop his relationship and that they had tried to prevent his fatal injury. They were charged with murder and kidnapping for the purpose of bodily harm to which they pled not guilty.
The trial starts on January 18. The court initially ordered that six of them remain in custody but later freed them on bail until the trial.
