Cyprus Mail 26 June 2024
Police on Tuesday arrested a third suspect in connection with the discovery of what authorities have described as the largest weapons cache found on the island.
The 42-year-old man, is currently being held as a suspect in the Central Prisons regarding the murder of Athanasios Kalogeropoulos, which occurred in October 2023 in Limassol.
The weapons were discovered on May 20 after police were tipped off about the stash at a cemetery in Oroklini, in the Larnaca district. On the same day, two men, aged 46 and 35, were arrested.
Police intercepted the 46-year-old suspect, finding in his bag ten boxes of bullets, several cartridges, a pistol and a hunting rifle. Further searches uncovered a military rifle, an anti-tank weapon, two projectiles, three projectile propellants, a cartridge box, an improvised explosive device, a quantity of high-explosive material, a pistol and two silencers inside the grave.
These individuals have been referred for direct trial before the Larnaca Criminal Court, starting on July 1.
Scientific examination of the evidence provided testimony against the 42-year-old suspect, leading to his arrest. The 42-year-old, together with three other suspects, had been arrested at the end of last year on suspicion of killing Kalogeropoulos, 54.
The murder trial had initially been set to begin in January, but was postponed after the four defendants initially requested that they be tried in Nicosia rather than in Limassol. In March, they all pleaded not guilty to all charges against them.
Describing the arms discovery as possibly the largest amount of weapons and explosives found to date in Cyprus, police spokesman Christos Andreou had said the bust seems to have stopped one or more criminal actions.
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Pafos Live
A 29-year-old Syrian man who reported yesterday that he was allegedly attacked by his compatriots turned out to have lied and that he had injured himself in order to incriminate his roommate.
The 29-year-old now faces a charge of public harm and has been examined by a government psychiatrist who ruled that he does not require forced hospitalization. It is recalled that the 29-year-old from Syria was transported by ambulance on Monday night to Paphos hospital with a sharp object wound.
In a written statement, the 29-year-old said that he lives with other compatriots and that he had a verbal confrontation with one of them, as a result of which he attacked and hit him with a chair and fell to the ground. According to the same allegation, while he was lying injured on the floor he inflicted various injuries to his back with a sharp object.
He had also claimed that the cause of the fight that resulted in his injury was over which of the two would clean the apartment. The police, after examinations, concluded that he had self-harmed, which he eventually admitted without giving an explanation for his complaint.
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A twenty-six-year-old man was reportedly found driving under the influence of drugs and in possession of drugs.
According to Paphos Assistant Police Director of Operations, Michalis Nicolaou, shortly after midnight on Tuesday, members of the Paphos Crime Prevention Unit and the Paphos Traffic Police on Tombs of the Kings Avenue intercepted a car driven by a 26-year-old.
Following an investigation, the young man was allegedly in possession of a small quantity of cannabis weighing 2.2 grams, a white powder resembling cocaine weighing 1 gram and a crystal substance resembling methamphetamine weighing 0.3 grams.
He said a drug test the 26-year-old had tested positive. Further examinations, Nicolaou added, found that he was also driving his car with a deprived driver's license without insurance and his vehicle was declared immobilized.
The 26-year-old was arrested, charged in writing and released to be summoned later.
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A large number of goods, which appear to be counterfeits, were located and confiscated during a coordinated operation carried out today, in the Famagusta district, by the Police Intellectual Property Theft Offence Branch and the Department of Customs.
The purpose of the operation was to combat the illegal trafficking of goods infringing intellectual property rights. During the meeting, members of the Police and the Department of Customs and Excise conducted searches at four premises in the Famagusta district, in which a total of 4,391 products, which appear to be counterfeits, were found and confiscated. The majority of the products seized are clothing.
The seized products were received by officers of the Department of Customs, which undertook the further investigation of the cases.
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A brutal murder took place last night in Ormidia. Shots were reportedly fired at a car paint shop.
These are two Greek Cypriots, who initially quarreled and then one of them recovered a gun and killed the second. Strong police forces have launched a manhunt across the area, with the perpetrator still missing.
This is reportedly a settling of accounts, and it appears that another person has been murdered in the same area in the past. The police of the British Bases proceeded to cut off the Ormidia – Xylofagou road for vehicular traffic, in an attempt to locate the armed perpetrator.
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A 34-year-old man was arrested for a flagrant offence, who was spotted by members of the Police attempting to break into a residence in Limassol yesterday afternoon. Members of the Police had rushed to the area for examinations, following a report of a suspicious person.
Specifically, around 2.00 pm on Tuesday, information was received stating that an unidentified man, who was wandering suspiciously on a specific street in Limassol, entered the courtyard of an adjacent residence. Members of Team "Z" rushed to the area, who spotted the suspect man trying to breach the main entrance of a residence using a power tool. Members of the Police proceeded to arrest the 34-year-old suspect for the offence of attempted burglary of a residence.
In a subsequent search, the 34-year-old was found in possession of various items of silver jewellery, as well as a total of 30 packets of cigarettes and tobacco, for the possession of which he did not give satisfactory explanations, resulting in his arrest for the offense of illegal possession of property. For the found jewellery and tobacco products, tests are carried out to determine if they are stolen property.
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Filenews
The person who was initially declared as a co-driver in the case of a serious traffic accident in Chloraka on Monday afternoon appears to have been the driver, as found by the Police after a check carried out on closed circuits in the area.
In statements to CNA, Pafos Assistant Police Director of Operations Michalis Nicolaou said that after a check carried out on closed circuits in the area, it was found that the driver of the car involved was not the 42-year-old arrested who had presented himself as the driver of the vehicle, but another person who had presented himself as a co-driver of the car and is a 41-year-old compatriot.
In fact, Mr. Nicolaou said, the one who has been arrested and is in custody under a court order until today Wednesday at 12:30 was a co-driver and the driver was the 41-year-old. The two persons were arrested. The 42-year-old, who was in custody, was re-arrested on a new court warrant for the offence of conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor, providing false information to a police officer, as well as interfering with a police investigation. The 41-year-old was also arrested for the same offences.
As to why they committed the offences, Nicolaou told CNA, the two suspects refused to answer. However, he added, the 41-year-old who was driving the vehicle on Monday night was expected to appear before the Paphos District Court in a case of a similar accident that occurred in 2019 in which serious injuries were also caused and today he is expected to be sentenced.
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Police arrested an 18-year-old man last night to facilitate investigations into causing a road collision and leaving the scene of a road collision, which occurred yesterday morning, in Famagusta district.
Police said in a statement that the collision happened around 2:30 a.m. yesterday, on Tefkrou Anthia Street, in Ayia Napa. According to the evidence under examination, a man was driving a four-wheeled motorcycle on the above road, having as passengers three other persons, two women, aged 19 and a man, aged 20.
Under circumstances that are being investigated, the motorcyclist lost control of the motorcycle, causing it to overturn.
The overturning of the motorcycle injured its three occupants, while the driver fled the scene, in an unknown direction.
The three injured were taken to Famagusta General Hospital. Medical tests found that the 20-year-old and a 19-year-old woman had fractured their arm and pelvis respectively and were detained for hospitalization. The second woman, after receiving first aid, was discharged.
Police examinations secured testimony about the identity of the driver of the four-wheeled motorcycle, who is allegedly an 18-year-old. A judicial arrest warrant was issued against him, under which he was arrested last night and taken into custody to facilitate interrogations.
Ayia Napa Police Station is investigating the case.
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The Famagusta District Court yesterday imposed a 24-month prison sentence on a 22-year-old man who was found guilty in a case of assisting third-country nationals for illegal entry into the Republic.
According to the findings of the Court, on April 4, 2024, in the Famagusta district, the 22-year-old assisted 23 third-country nationals to illegally enter the territory of the Republic of Cyprus.
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A quantity of prohibited pyrotechnic articles was found and confiscated in the morning, at a kiosk in Nicosia, during a joint investigation by the Police and the Department of Customs. A 36-year-old man was arrested to facilitate interrogations.
Members of the Nicosia Crime Prevention Unit and the Department of Customs and Excise participated in the investigation. During the operation, a total of 105 flares and 130 hand-held fireworks launchers were detected. The above items were confiscated, after it was found that they are items whose import, possession and sale is prohibited.
The 36-year-old owner of the kiosk was arrested for the offence of illegal possession of explosives.
Both the 36-year-old man and the seized pyrotechnic articles were received by the Department of Customs, which undertook the further investigation of the case.
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Today's decision of the Pafos Permanent Assize Court was unanimous for a 4-year prison sentence for the case of causing grievous bodily harm in the village of Psathi on September 24, 2023.
The Permanent Assize Court of Pafos, consisting of Mr M. Droussiotis President, Mr P. Kyriakides and Mr Pefkos, associate judges, unanimously imposed concurrent sentences at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, the longest being 4 years for the offence of causing grievous bodily harm to the 34-year-old defendant. The execution of the sentence ordered to begin on October 02, 2023, the date the defendant is in custody.
The Assize Court stated in its decision that it accepted all the mitigating factors that the lawyer of the accused, criminal lawyer Dr. Artemis Savvidou mentioned in her speech and were not disputed by the lawyer of the Republic A', Mr. Andreas Ch'Kyrou.
These were, the admission and practical remorse of the defendant expressed and with compensation of the victim amounting to 130 thousand euros covering future cosmetic surgery, the absence of a criminal record, good character, personal circumstances, provocation on the part of the victim to the extent that it could be taken into account on the basis of the facts of the case, the fact that the defendant was under the influence of alcohol and did not fully have his mind, The full reconciliation of the two sides expressed through their affidavits stressing that they want to bring calm to their relations and leave behind the unpleasant incident.
The Assize Court stressed that there is a need for dissuasive penalties in such offences, where the commitment to the protection of human life is a given. The sentence is individualized to be fair and appropriate to the offender and the facts of the case.
It is noted that the charge initially faced by the defendant and related to the attempted murder, was suspended by the Attorney General of the Republic and an amendment was made to the indictment for a case of causing grievous bodily harm in Psathi.
