Filenews 22 January 2021 - by Michalis Hatzivasilis
The police file on the illegal employment of foreigners at the Cypra slaughterhouse was forwarded to the Legal Service with a recommendation for the prosecution of 27 natural persons and a company.
The police investigations have been completed and according to the findings of the investigators it was ascertained that 26 foreigners of different ethnicities, when checks were carried out, were working in the slaughterhouse without the necessary permits. The foreigners were identified following a police investigation last November, after cases of coronavirus were detected among slaughterhouse workers.
The Police examined the working status of all cases of foreign workers [of which there were more than 70, and found that 26 did not have a work permit. Investigations were delayed because some of the workers were quarantined because they were identified with coronavirus and others as their registered contacts, leading investigators to wait for their restriction to expire in order to obtain a statement.
It is now expected that the file with the witness material will be studied by the Legal Service and instructions will be given for further handling of the case. If it is decided that criminal proceedings should be brought, then it will be requested that the case be heard soon because foreigners who are in detention are also involved.
As regards the second case investigated by the Police in relation again to the director of the slaughterhouse regarding a complaint by Members that he refused to attend a session of the House, this is pending before the Legal Service and is likely to be examined in parallel with that concerning the illegal employment of foreigners.
The Police in this case suggest that the director of the slaughterhouse was right not to go to the House to attend a meeting of the Trade Committee, because he was in self-isolation as a declared contact for a case of coronavirus, but he was wrong to go to the slaughterhouse, which is why it was recommended that he be extradited out of court.
In the meantime, the Research Committee set up to examine issues relating to the Cypra slaughterhouse has started work and is expected to begin its thorough investigation from the time of the operation of the Kofinou slaughterhouse to date in relation to the Cypra company. Its members are yet to begin calling witnesses, after collecting witness material relating to several years back and it is estimated that the summons of persons will begin next month.
