Filenews 15 February 2023 - by Natasha Christoforou
An impediment was presented in the trial for the racist incident in Larnaca last July, with a 43-year-old Greek Cypriot accused, who is seen on video beating a 29-year-old woman from Congo who was holding her infant in her arms, as well as a compatriot who tried to help her.
Both the complainant and her compatriot did not appear in the court proceedings set for last Monday to testify as prosecution witnesses. The 29-year-old said she was not feeling well and efforts are being made to testify at the next trial set for February 23. As for her compatriot, it was not possible to locate him and so the representative of the Prosecutor's Office, George Stavrou, requested that an arrest warrant be issued against him. In addition, another person from the defendant's entourage, who is seen in the video trying to restrain him, was not located to be served with a summons to testify. In fact, in the accommodation address he gave, there is an uninhabited house.
The shocking video, which had caused an uproar and a storm of reactions, was, however, accepted by the Court, before which two eyewitnesses also testified. So the trial of the case will continue with or without the remaining testimonies. If the complainant does not testify, however, the case may go soft, as competent sources told "F", since her testimony is of great importance.
The indictment against the 43-year-old, however, is very serious since he was charged with 10 counts, four of which relate to the offence of certain forms of racism and xenophobia. He was also charged with assault causing actual bodily harm, joint assault, public insult and possession of an offensive instrument. In all the charges brought against him, the defendant had answered non-admission.
It is recalled that the incident occurred on July 11, 2022, when the 29-year-old, who is a political asylum seeker, was beaten in a neighbourhood of the port of Larnaca, as she had her 11-month-old baby in her arms. The complainant, denouncing the case, said that she had gone to the 43-year-old's house, to ask for back the money for a faulty car he sold her. According to her testimony, the defendant in a racist tone shouted at her "this is my country and I will do whatever I want." The defendant then came down from the apartment building where he lives and after insulting her he kicked her in the back and punched her.
