Pafos Live 24 July 2023
A car belonging to a Bulgarian who lives permanently in Geroskipou was set ablaze at dawn.
The Bulgarian's vehicle was parked outside the apartment building where he lives. The fire was extinguished by the fire department before spreading to other vehicles.
The first indications lead to the conclusion that this is a malicious act.
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A Georgian man who regularly engages in burglary and theft cases was arrested by police last night. He wore a hood and was in possession of burglary tools.
A few minutes earlier, a citizen informed the police that two unknown persons who had their faces covered with hoods were trying to steal items from parked vehicles on Alexandrou Papagou Avenue.
A police patrol rushed to the scene and found one of the two in possession of burglary tools while still having his face covered by a hood.
It was found that he had not managed to steal anything while tests are underway to locate the second person who was with him.
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Members of the Police arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with an ongoing case of assisting third-country nationals to enter the Republic. The case concerns the arrival by sea boat, of 20 people, in free Famagusta, at noon on Sunday.
The vessel, 8.5 meters long, was spotted shortly before 2.00 pm on Sunday, in the sea area of Famagusta. Members of the Port and Maritime Police who sailed on a police boat spotted the boat carrying 20 irregular migrants, including 13 men, two women, and five children. Among them is the 24-year-old suspect.
After the members of the Police safely drove the 20 persons to Ayia Napa Marina, examinations followed by members of the Aliens and Immigration Service – MOD&M, to verify their identity. During examinations, evidence emerged against the 24-year-old, who was allegedly the driver of the sea vessel. He was arrested by members of the Famagusta ICF with a court warrant, while the remaining 19 persons were transferred to the "POURNARA" accommodation center.
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Filenews 24 July 2023
The 55-year-old Ukrainian E.K., who was sentenced to six months in prison in March, was released last Friday following a ruling by the newly formed Court of Appeal.
The Larnaca District Court had punished her with the aforementioned sentence for the offence of common assault on 28/3/2023, in relation to the well-known incident in the coastal city, when persons of Russian origin had gathered on August 22, 2022 in an open plot opposite the Church of Panagia Faneromeni. This is in order to carry out a procession in cars through the city to celebrate the creation of the Russian flag.
However, the three-member judiciary (Charalambos V. Charalambous, Yiota Kyriakides and Michalis Pikis), examining the two grounds of appeal raised by the defense lawyer of the convicted woman, George Mouskos, seems to have accepted the first, resulting in a reduction of the sentence to four months.
The 55-year-old from Ukraine, after being imprisoned at the end of last March, was considered to have served her sentence and was released immediately.
The Court of Appeal, in its conclusion of its decision, referring to the verdict of the Court of First Instance, notes that "here aggravating facts were taken into account unrelated to the charges to which the Appellant admitted and this of course due to the aforementioned error of principle, which activates the power of the Court of Appeal to intervene, as we have mentioned. In the present case, and for the reasons we have already explained, our intervention is deemed necessary."
The error of principle cited by the Court of Appeal, according to its 17-page ruling, has to do with "established good practice for what follows a defendant's admission." And citing writings, he explains, among other things: "The Court of First Instance had to set out the facts which would constitute the basis for imposing the sentence and then hear the plea for mitigation." Because of this error, the Court of Appeal notes, the District Court "took into account circumstances from the preceding testimony which, on the one hand, were irrelevant to the details of the charges as they were in the indictment and, on the other hand, manifestly influenced its judgment as to the amount of the sentence."
It should be noted that the 55-year-old Ukrainian woman who had lost her brother during the Russian invasion, was in her apartment in Larnaca, when she noticed the gathering in the open space, went to the spot holding a knife and shouting at two of those gathered.
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