Pafos Live 6 June 2024
The Famagusta District Court today imposed a 24-month prison sentence on a 43-year-old man who was found guilty after hearing a case related to offences committed during the transport of a number of irregular migrants by sea boat to the Famagusta area last March.
Specifically, the 43-year-old was found guilty by the District Court of committing the offences of facilitating the illegal entry of third country persons into the territory of the Republic, and illegal entry into the territory of the Republic, as well as of an offence in relation to the legislation on prohibited immigrants.
The case concerned the arrival of 21 irregular migrants, by sea boat, in the area of free Famagusta, on March 31, 2024. Among them was the 43-year-old, who according to the evidence that emerged during the police examinations, was the navigator of the boat. He was arrested by members of the Police for committing offences relating to illegal entry into the territory of the Republic.
The case had been investigated by the Famagusta ICF.
* * * * * *
They crammed 56 souls into a rotten boat that held just eight people and sent them from Syria to Cyprus for thousands of euros. In fact, because the migrants could not fit and their legs were hanging in the sea, the boat barely aligned and there was not an inch of space free.
Two pilots were sentenced by a court in Larnaka to 2.5 years in prison for entering the Republic and 3.5 years in prison for transporting persons by water in an overloaded boat. The Attorney General appealed finding the sentences insufficient.
The Court of Appeal accepted the appeal and increased the sentences from 2.5 to 3.5 years in prison in the first category and from 3.5 to five years in prison in the second category. The penalties will be met.
As the Court of Appeal states, there is no doubt that the facts surrounding the present case rank it among the most serious of its kind. The defendants, in return, played an important role in the whole organization of this dangerous journey. We do not hesitate to say that they consciously endangered the lives of 58 people, since they knew from the outset the danger of the trip due to overloading the boat.
Despite this, they inspected and deemed fit for purpose a boat that was designed to carry up to eight people, while those too were not for offshore travel. On such a boat the defendants loaded 56 people in addition to themselves, who were forced to hang parts of their bodies outside it to fit, further aggravating the existence of danger.
By luck alone, the 58 people arrived alive in Cyprus, since when, after their arrest, they boarded the police boat, the boat sank.
Characteristic are also the facts heard in the trial and recorded in an emphatic way in the decision of the Court of Appeal:
"On 24.7.2022 around 19:10, the radio signalling system of Paralimni naval station identified a suspicious sea target sailing southeast of Cape Greco, within territorial waters of the Republic. A boat of the Port and Maritime Police sailed to the spot to locate and control the target.
A wooden fishing boat of about 8 meters was found actually sailing within territorial waters of the Republic heading towards the coast of Cyprus. There were 58 people on board, nine of whom were underage children. The boat was visibly overloaded since every inch of the surface of the boat, namely the deck area, the aft part, the steering compartment, the cockpit cabin and even the handrail were occupied by the cornered passengers In order to fit in, they were sometimes forced to expose parts of their bodies (mainly their legs) outside the surface of the boat, which were hovering over the sea.
This situation adversely affected the navigation and stability of the boat, which could hardly resist the inclined slopes caused by the overload and rough seas, returning very slowly and marginally to a horizontal position."
* * * * * *
Members of the Police arrested a second suspect in connection with an ongoing case of theft of property, worth €5,200, committed last Sunday at a premises in the Limassol district. This is a 32-year-old man, who was taken into custody, with the Kalo Chorio Police Station continuing to investigate the case.
The theft was reported to Kalo Chorio Police Station shortly after 4:00 on Sunday afternoon. According to the complaint, at around 10:00 before noon on Sunday, two car engines, along with their two gearboxes, worth a total of €3,000, four wheel rims, worth €1,000, as well as 150 pieces of wooden boards, worth €1,200, were stolen from the fenced workshop area in the Limassol district (Police Bulletin No. 1, dated 04/06/2024, related).
Examinations conducted by members of the Kalo Chorio Police Station revealed evidence against two suspects, men aged 49 and 32. The 49-year-old was located and arrested by members of the Police, pursuant to a court warrant, at noon on Monday, while on Tuesday, he was brought before the Limassol District Court, which issued a four-day detention order for the purpose of investigating the case. Yesterday afternoon, the 32-year-old suspect was also arrested by members of the Police, pursuant to a court warrant
* * * * * *
Two third-country nationals were arrested by the authorities for illegal work and staying in the Republic of Cyprus in the context of coordinated control operations by the Police and the Ministry of Labour.
According to an announcement, in an inspection operation carried out earlier today at premises in Famagusta district, a total of 71 persons were checked, including 15 Cypriots, 15 European Union nationals and 41 third-country nationals.
During the checks, two persons, aged 28 and 32, third-country nationals, were arrested by members of the Police for offences of illegal employment, illegal employment, and for the offence of illegal stay in the Republic, while four persons were issued by officials of the Ministry of Labour, administrative notices for the detection of violations.
Regarding the case of illegal employment, illegal employment, and illegal stay in the Republic, which arose during today's control operation, the Police, and specifically the Paralimni Police Station, has already registered it for trial before the Famagusta District Court.
According to the details of the case, a 28-year-old man who is a third-country national, was found to be working at the premises illegally, without permission from the competent Authority, while as it was found from the examinations that took place subsequently, he is illegally in Cyprus. The 28-year-old was arrested by members of the Police for the offences of illegal employment and illegal stay in the Republic.
The employer of the 28-year-old, a 32-year-old man, a third-country national, who was also found to be in Cyprus illegally, was arrested by members of the Police for the offences of illegal employment and illegal stay in the Republic.
For the purposes of hearing the case, the Court ordered that the 28-year-old and 32-year-old remain in custody until the next hearing, set for June 19.
In today's inspection operation, members of the YAM Unit of the Famagusta Police Directorate participated, in cooperation with inspectors of the Inspection Service of the Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance.
* * * * * *
Another 17-year-old was recently arrested by the Police to facilitate investigations into the investigated case of arson at a shelter for unaccompanied minors in Larnaca, committed last Tuesday evening, June 4.
The 17-year-old was arrested under a court warrant issued against him, based on testimony obtained during police examinations.
Earlier today, two other 17-year-olds were arrested and detained in connection with the same case.
The fire broke out around 11.50pm. of June 4, in two rooms of the guest room, while at 3 a.m. On June 5, a fire broke out again in five other rooms. In both cases, the fires were extinguished by the Fire Brigade, while subsequent examinations revealed that both were set maliciously.
The three arrested are expected to appear today before the Larnaca District Court for a detention order. The ICF of Larnaca is investigating the case.
* * * * * *
Tragic end had in the afternoon work carried out at the residence of the 64-year-old in Argaka in the area of Chrysochous. The unfortunate man, father of two girls, tragically died by electrocution during these works.
The dead is Stefanos Kyriakou, who according to police investigations was using an electric machine to drill a groove when under circumstances under investigation he was electrocuted.
The tragic 64-year-old was noticed by residents unconscious in the area of work and alerted the police. An ambulance took him to Polis Chrysochous Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The scene remains cordoned off and examinations are being carried out by the Police and Electromechanical Service.
* * * * * *
The Administrative Court will examine the illegal construction of a monastery, within the protected area of the Natura 2000 Network in Cape Greco, by the Metropolis of Constantia and Famagusta.
After the rejection of the hierarchical appeal against the enforcement notice, the Diocese proceeded with the filing of an appeal with the Administrative Court. According to the Metropolis, if the application for a derogation permit does not succeed and is not approved, it will proceed with the demolition of all buildings. Until then, it will not proceed with the continuation of illegal construction work.
It is noted that the Metropolis of Constance and Famagusta had made a similar assurance to the Minister of the Interior regarding the hierarchical appeal, which was ultimately rejected, but the decision of the Planning Authority was not respected by the Metropolis.
On 14/5/2024, the District Office of the Department of Town Planning and Housing of Famagusta informed the Metropolis of Constantia and Famagusta about the rejection of the hierarchical appeal by the Minister of Interior on 2/5/2024. Therefore, the Planning Authority called on the Metropolis to proceed with the lifting of arbitrary interventions, the demolition of illegal constructions and the restoration of the environment within 15 days.
It is noted that, according to the original enforcement notice served on 28/3/2024, the developments for which the enforcement notice was served are not covered by permission and have been arbitrarily implemented. However, on 3/4/2024, the Diocese proceeded to file a hierarchical appeal to the Minister of Interior, against the enforcement notice.
Immediately after the rejection of the hierarchical appeal on 2/5/2024 and the relevant notification of the Diocese on 14/5/2024, the Diocese proceeded to register an appeal with the Administrative Court on 28/5/2024 (case 792/2024). In particular, the Diocese unilaterally challenges the decision of the Minister of the Interior to reject the hierarchical appeal against the enforcement notice.
On 30/5/2024, i.e. two days after the submission of the application to the Administrative Court by the Metropolis of Constantia and Famagusta, the Department of Environment informed the Department of Town Planning and Housing of its decision to set legally binding and essential conditions for the demolition of the monastery and the restoration of the environment, in case the Metropolis takes the legal actions and follows the provisions of the current legislation.
The demolition and restoration conditions imposed by the Department of Environment were examined at a meeting of the Ad-hoc Committee for the Special Ecological Assessment held on 24/4/2024, based on the provisions of the Protection and Management of Nature and Wildlife Law, as well as the Protection and Management of Wild Birds and Game Law. Among other things, the Department of Environment states that the demolition of the project should be implemented during the months of July – August or between the end of October – end of February, for the purpose of minimizing the impact, especially on the bird fauna of the area.
* * * * * *
Cyprus Mail
Three passengers set to board a flight to Britain were remanded on Wednesday for possession of duty-free goods in their luggage.
The customs authorities had found 392 boxes of 200 cigarettes each and 43kg of rolling tobacco, which the suspects had brought to the Republic from the north with the intention of exporting to the UK.
The products were marked as ‘duty-free’ and did not bear the mandatory warnings on the packaging.
The passengers were arrested and taken to Larnaca court on Wednesday, which ordered them to remain in custody for two days pending police investigations.
* * * * * *
A 40-year-old resident of Paphos was arrested Thursday after authorities uncovered an illegal tobacco lab in his home.
The suspect was found producing and distributing hookah tobacco that resembled a popular brand.
Officers of the Customs Department discovered a total of 71 Kg of tobacco in the lab, finished and unfinished, along with various chemicals and equipment.
The intervention prevented low-quality tobacco from reaching the market. These products could potentially harm consumer health.
The suspect was arrested and taken to the District Court of Paphos.
