Filenews 29 April 2024
A minor was allegedly found driving a car during traffic police checks carried out by the Paphos Police as part of road collision prevention.
According to Paphos Assistant Police Director of Operations Michalis Nicolaou, the 15-year-old minor was allegedly spotted on Saturday at 1 a.m. driving a vehicle with two other minors as passengers in the area of Polis Chrysochous.
According to police, the 15-year-old allegedly took the vehicle owned by his father without his consent. Subsequently, the car was transferred to the Paphos Police Authority and a relevant file is expected to be formed for the case, which will be submitted to the Legal Service due to the fact that he is a minor.
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An incident that took place in the Limassol Marina parking lot on Sunday afternoon led to the arrest of two people.
According to the Police, members of the Cycling Police spotted people in the Limassol Marina parking lot trying to lift the barrier located at the exit, causing damage.
When they approached the scene and asked them to stop, the two people allegedly attacked the police, resulting in their arrest.
In their possession, as we were told, a knife was found, but it was not recovered by the owner, nor was there any injury.
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It is now clear what the police believe about the attempted murder of 34-year-old Dimitris Andronikou ("Dimitroui") that occurred on April 23 in Anthoupoli.
As can be seen from yesterday's request by the ICF Nicosia for the detention of nine persons who were arrested in the morning hours of Saturday in connection with the case (for six it was approved, while it was rejected for the remaining three), it integrates this criminal act into the fluid situation created since last autumn in terms of the interests of the night.
More specifically, it links it to the murder of at least one person at the end of 2023 and subsequent actions aimed at leading criminal groups.
The detention request put before the Nicosia District Court on Saturday is based on a police informant, who claims that one of the arrested, 45-year-old who is the 1st suspect, took over the leadership of a Nicosia faction after the murder of another person.
The 34-year-old, who is currently hospitalized in critical condition, according to the ICF informant, was trying to establish himself in the control of premises and mainly betting shops. This fact, always according to the informant, brought the two persons into conflict, namely 45-year-old (1st suspect) and 34-year-old Dimitris Andronikou.
The same informant allegedly claimed that the 45-year-old on at least two occasions told two Greek Cypriots arrested on Saturday and released yesterday (2nd and 3rd suspect) that Andronikou "must get out of the way".
In addition, the same information states that the 1st suspect, I.I., is cooperating with two other suspects of Arab origin, the 4th and the 5th, who exercise control over Syrians involved in organized crime in Cyprus.
According to the case that the ICF Nicosia is trying to establish, the two Greek Cypriot associates of the 45-year-old – the 2nd and 3rd suspect – urged the 4th suspect to find a pistol and the 5th suspect to assign to other persons the execution of the murder plan.
As is clear from the request for detention of the ICF of Nicosia, the 7th suspect, of Arab origin, according to the informant, is the person who was riding the scooter that approached the 34-year-old Andronikou early in the afternoon last Tuesday, while the person arrested yesterday afternoon in Larnaka was riding on the motorcycle. Investigators believe that he was the person who fired three shots at Andronikos when he was riding his large displacement motorcycle on the Anthoupoli-Palaichori road.
The 7th suspect who was brought to court yesterday by the Police with eight other persons requesting an 8-day detention order, along with the 10th arrested, allegedly agreed to execute the plan for €20,000, receiving as an advance payment of €10,000.
"He'll kill him first."
According to the police request presented by Yiannos Giannakou, on behalf of the investigation team of the ICF of Nicosia in the case, written testimony shows that Andronikou contacted a person with whom he has close ties and told him that the 45-year-old I.I. told him that "he will kill him first".
The request presented by Giannakou, presents the findings of the ICF Nicosia after the execution of arrest and search warrants at the homes of the nine suspects, which, based on the position of the Police, link all the aforementioned to each other.
Among the findings are objects that police say link some of the nine arrested, as well as evidence believed to link them to the attempt. Among them were €7,000 and clothing believed to have been brought by the perpetrators.
The six are in custody
Defense lawyers, during Saturday's marathon court proceedings, strongly disputed the issue of the informant, with Yiannos Giannakou being cross-examined from early afternoon until shortly before 21:00 in the evening (the suspects were taken to Court at 14:30). Judge Maria-Anna Stylianou reserved her decision for yesterday on the Police's request for an 8-day detention order against the nine arrested.
So, yesterday afternoon around 15:00 it decided to approve the requests for the six arrested on Saturday morning (1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th) while rejecting them for the other three, two Greek Cypriots and one person of Romanian origin. They are suspects numbers 2, 3 and 8, who were represented by Stelios Christodoulou, Savvas Matsas and Alexandros Saouris, respectively. Based on the judge's decision, which she read out yesterday, the main criterion was whether what was conveyed by a police informant was consistent with the findings made after the execution of the arrest and search warrants against the suspects and thus "reasonable suspicion" was established.
Yesterday's long court proceedings
Saturday's trial for the nine arrested earlier in the day was a marathon. It was accompanied by a request by two defense lawyers (Agathoklis Korellis and Victor Akamas) for the Judge's recusal, who raised the issue of "objective impartiality", because the previous day she had been called upon to decide on the arrest warrants against the suspects.
After adjournment and the issuance of a decision of the Judge, by which she rejected the above request, the proceedings continued with the cross-examination of the head of the investigation team of the case, Yiannos Giannakou (the request was not read to the Court). This was followed by cross-examination by defence lawyers and oral arguments on their part. The Judge, after the completion of the above procedures, shortly after 21:00 reserved her decision for yesterday.
The nine people were arrested in the early hours of Saturday on suspicion of, among other things, offences of conspiracy to commit a felony, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and unlawful possession and transport of a firearm. It should be clarified that the 9th is suspected of complicity after committing an offence.
Lawyers Agathoklis Korellis (1st and 4th suspect), Victor Akamas (1st), Stelios Christodoulou (2nd), Savvas Matsas (3rd), Giorgos Loizou (6th), Nikos Koromias (7th) and Alexandros Saouris (8th suspect) appeared for the defendants.
The prosecution was represented by Sotiroulla Michael.
8-day detention for the alleged executioner - €8,300 found in his apartment
The 10th person arrested in the case was placed under 8-day detention yesterday. He is a 25-year-old man of Arab origin, who was arrested the day before yesterday after a police operation in Larnaca. The members of the police who participated in the execution of the arrest and search warrants allegedly located in the apartment where the 25-year-old lives, a sum of money amounting to 8,300 euros.
It is recalled that, according to a police informant, the 25-year-old was allegedly the passenger of the scooter that approached Andronikou on the Palaichori-Anthoupoli road and the one who fired three shots at the 34-year-old.
The judge of the Nicosia District Court, Maria-Anna Stylianou, approved the request of the ICF Nicosia for the detention of the suspect yesterday afternoon. It should be noted that the 25-year-old appeared before the bench without a defence lawyer. In his defence, he said through a translator that he lives far away from the scene of the crime.
As we noted earlier in the day, the judge had issued detention orders for six of the nine suspects arrested on Saturday. In total, seven people are in custody in connection with the case.
According to the police informant, the 7th suspect along with the 25-year-old allegedly received the sum of €20,000 to carry out a murder plan against Andronikos. After committing the offence, both – on the basis of oral testimony – allegedly headed to the village of Menoiko, via the Nicosia – Kokkinotrimithia motorway, with the 9th suspect providing them with assistance.
