Pafos Live 25 April 2024
Fireworks were fired in the Ha-Potami area of Kouklia last night.
For the case, the police issued an arrest warrant against a businessman from Limassol who shortly before the fire broke out threw fireworks during an event for which a relevant permit had been secured.
The Limassol resident, who was sought without being located after the warrant was issued, faces charges of negligent and reckless acts.
Apart from an area of five hectares covered with dry grass and wild vegetation, an EAC pole was burned.
Update - Filenews
A warrant for the arrest of a person who allegedly threw the fireworks believed by authorities to have caused the fire at the Ha-Potamia location in Kouklia on Wednesday night has been obtained by police.
According to the information, this is a professional who is licensed by the competent department of the Republic for possession and use of fireworks in various events. However, it is estimated that the very adverse weather conditions that prevailed on Wednesday in Paphos with the strong winds, should push the person in question to postpone any planned activity of this kind.
The professional in question was arrested this morning and is being questioned at the Paphos Police Headquarters, after which he is expected to be charged in writing and released. The fireworks were fired as part of events organized at a tourist unit in the area on Wednesday night.
As it is known, the fire in close proximity to the monument of Petra tou Romiou, as well as luxurious tourist developments in the wider area, have alarmed the government, with the competent Minister of the Environment already raising today the issue of revoking fireworks permits given and which are considered by many in Paphos to be a scourge, especially during the tourist season.
The fire in Kouklia was brought under control after a four-hour battle with the flames in very adverse conditions. Units of the Fire Brigade, the Department of Forests, the Game Service and citizens with various agricultural machinery worked to extinguish the fire, since the area was particularly inaccessible, while the strong winds that were blowing in the area created additional difficulties in the work of extinguishing.
The fire burned a total of five hectares of dry grass and wild vegetation.
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A 42-year-old Greek Cypriot driver was arrested at dawn by police on the Paphos-Limassol highway, in the area of Agia Varvara.
The car had entered the oncoming traffic of the motorway and was heading to Limassol. Drivers who found her coming towards them alerted the police in horror and immobilized her. She was found to have tested positive in both a drug test and a breathalyzer test.
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Filenews
The Nicosia Permanent Assize Court has imposed an eight-year prison sentence on a track coach who was found guilty of the offences of sexual abuse and indecent assault against his former female athletes when they were still minors.
The defendant was found guilty on March 15 after a court hearing.
The Assize Court handed down successive sentences to the defendant in each of the four cases, amounting to eight years' imprisonment.
The case concerned four complaints by former athletes against this coach when they were training in Larnaca several years ago.
The coach had denied all accusations and for this there was a hearing that lasted several months. The case had been investigated by the Subdirectorate for Case Management of Vulnerable Persons.
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A female prison guard was suspended today following an investigation ordered against her in connection with the possibility of committing a criminal offence.
Philenews reports that the investigation was ordered to determine whether she was involved in transporting a mobile phone inside the prison.
Specifically, following instructions from the management of the Central Prisons, the CCTV of a specific area was examined, where it was found that a mobile phone is being imported into the prisons.
Following this development, the case was reported to the ICF of Nicosia and at the same time procedures were initiated to the National Health Service for the suspension of this prison officer.
Recently, again on the instructions of the prison management, the personal lockers of prison guards were searched and 125 grams were found in one of them. cannabis which were linked to a specific prison guard.
He was arrested, suspended and the day before yesterday a case against him was registered at the Nicosia District Court. He was released on bail of 3,000 euros to appear at his trial.
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Cyprus Police
Members of the Police, specifically of the Anti-Narcotics Service - YKAN, proceeded yesterday to arrest an 18-year-old man, after finding in his possession, a quantity of cannabis weighing approximately one kilogram. The 18-year-old suspect was taken into custody, with the YCAN Unit in Limassol investigating the drug trafficking case. The members of the Police found the 18-year-old, around 5:30 on Wednesday afternoon, in an open plot in the Mesa Geitonia area, in Limassol, where his car was also parked. After he was stopped for a check, he was found to be in possession of six packages, with a quantity of green dry cannabis plant material with a total gross weight of approximately 172 grams. They also found the sum of €370 in his possession. A search of the 18-year-old suspect's vehicle followed, where members of the Police identified three more packages, with a quantity of green dry plant material of cannabis, with a total gross weight of approximately 986 grams. YKAN members proceeded to arrest the 18-year-old suspect and confiscate the amount of cannabis and money found in his possession. A case of illegal possession and illegal possession of drugs for the purpose of supply to another person, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit a felony is being investigated against him.
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Yesterday, members of the Police, in cooperation with officials of the Ministry of Health, conducted a search operation in a store in Paphos, where controlled pharmaceutical and narcotic substances products were located and confiscated. The coordinated search operation was carried out shortly before noon on Wednesday, in a store in Paphos, pursuant to a judicial search warrant, which had been issued, based on evidence of illegal marketing of controlled pharmaceutical products for which there is no marketing license. Members of the Intellectual Property Theft and Illegal Betting Crimes Branch, the Electronic Crime Sub-Directorate, of the Police Headquarters, members of the Anti-Narcotics Service - YKAN Paphos and officials of the Pharmaceutical and Health Services, of the Ministry of Health, participated in the investigations. In the store, 34 packages of products containing dry plant matter, believed to be cannabis, 26 packages of products believed to contain cannabidiol – CBD, and 13 packages of products believed to contain the substance tetrahydrocannabinol – THC were located and seized for further examination. Another 6 packages of products were seized by the Health Services during the investigations, for further examinations within the framework of their responsibilities. It is recalled that an announcement by the Pharmaceutical Services, in June, 2022, states that products containing cannabidiol - CBD, are classified as pharmaceutical products and their marketing requires the issuance of a marketing permit. Any commercial activity, including wholesaling and selling them to the public, without the required permits, is prohibited.
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Pafos Live
Police arrested three suspects in connection with an ongoing case of assisting third-country nationals to enter the Republic illegally, migrant smuggling, and money laundering. The suspects, men aged 38 and 21 and a woman aged 20, were taken into custody, with ICF Headquarters investigating the case.
According to the evidence under investigation, the 38-year-old suspect, who remains illegally in the Republic after his temporary residence permit has expired, is alleged recently, in April, to have assisted the 21-year-old and 20-year-old, third-country nationals, to enter the Republic illegally, in exchange for a monetary reward, as believed based on evidence that has emerged from examinations carried out by the Police.
The three suspects were located by members of the Police, shortly after midnight, in Nicosia. They were arrested pursuant to court warrants issued for the purpose of investigating the case. They are being investigated for conspiracy to commit a felony, aiding third-country nationals to enter the Republic illegally, smuggling migrants in violation of UN conventions and legislation on transnational organized crime, and money laundering.
