Filenews 9 August 2024
The identity of the second victim, who was found charred, inside a burning car, on 31/07/2024, in the Limassol district, was ascertained.
The two charred bodies were found in a burning car, on a side street of the main road Parekklisia - Kellaki, after information was received by the Police, while the legal autopsy performed on the two bodies found that their death resulted from a traumatic brain injury caused by a gunshot. (Ast. Bulletin No. 4, dated 31/07/2024, relevant).
From the examinations carried out by the Police, the identity of the second victim has been ascertained. He is DAVID CHMELAR, 38, formerly from Slovakia. In this case, two persons aged 19 and 23 are in eight-day detention. (Ast. Bulletin No. 2, dated 01/08/2024, related).
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The physical attack against a prison guard of the Department of Prisons by two prisoners is denounced by the Prison Personnel branch of PASYDY. The reason, as stated, is that the prison guard, performing his duty, seized a prohibited object from the prisoner's cell. "The cowardly attack was followed by insults and threats against staff members."
Specifically, the announcement states:
This attack is the straw that broke the camel's back, causing intense feelings of indignation and despair. This is the environment and everyday life of colleagues, otherwise "pampered" civil servants. Those who are the target of bombings, arson, threats, violence, because they struggle to perform properly and with dignity, the function assigned to them by the State.
And it is for this reason that we have repeatedly stressed as a Branch and as PASYDY that the State must provide us with the necessary tools so that we can perform our difficult work in safe conditions, properly and effectively.
We will not go any further. Staff are called upon to make decisions. The Board of Directors will meet in the coming days to set a date for an extraordinary General Meeting, for discussion and a decision on possible measures.
The State has the obligation to proceed immediately and without further obstruction to take the necessary decisions and actions to resolve the timeless and intractable problems and dysfunctions faced by the Department of Prisons and which, among other things, endanger the physical integrity and even the very life of colleagues.
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Filenews 10 August
Police have arrested another suspect in the explosion at a café in Nicosia on June 22. This is a 35-year-old man who was taken into custody for the purpose of investigating the case.
The explosion in the cafeteria occurred around 4.40 in the morning, on June 22, 2024, resulting in extensive damage to the side entrance of the premises. From the examinations of the Police pyrotechnics at the scene, it was found that the explosion was due to the detonation of an improvised bomb, with a high-power explosive. At the time the homemade bomb exploded, persons were working on the premises.
The Police are investigating a case of attempted murder, and attempted destruction of property with explosives, with the examinations being conducted by the ICF Nicosia in cooperation with the YKAN (Nicosia District Unit).
Tests revealed evidence against the 35-year-old. A judicial arrest warrant, as well as a European arrest warrant, was issued against him in connection with the offences of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted destruction of property with explosives, illegal possession of drugs, money laundering, and other offences.
The 35-year-old suspect was wanted, while his details and photo were released by the Police on July 03, 2024, in order to gather information that could lead to his location.
The 35-year-old was arrested in Greece, where he was tracked down by Greek authorities and arrested under a European warrant issued against him. A court procedure followed, during which the Greek judicial authorities approved the request of the Cypriot authorities to extradite the suspect to Cyprus. Members of the YKAN went to Greece, from where yesterday, they flew the 35-year-old to Cyprus. Upon arrival at Larnaka airport, the members of the Police proceeded to arrest the 35-year-old, pursuant to the court warrant issued against him.
The same case was preceded by the arrests of six other suspects, also under court warrants, issued on the basis of evidence obtained from police investigations. Five men aged 35, 26, 23, 28 and 44 and a woman aged 35 were arrested. The 28-year-old, 44-year-old and 35-year-old were later released, while the 35-year-old, 26-year-old and 23-year-old were brought before a court for trial. They were released on 24 July, subject to conditions ordered by the Court, in order to ensure their appearance before the Court. The next hearing was set for October 11.
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Police arrested another person, aged 22, today, pursuant to a court arrest warrant, as part of an investigation into a case involving conspiracy to commit a felony and misdemeanor, rioting, causing malicious damage and burglary of a building and theft.
Specifically, on May 16, 2024, information was received by the Police about a group of about 15 persons, who had their faces covered with hoods, who after breaching the entrance of a sports center in Limassol, entered its premises, where they caused damage. Subsequently, those persons entered a second premises, close to the first, where they also caused malicious damage.
These persons also allegedly caused damage to four vehicles parked in the area.
For the same case, another person aged 23 is in three-day detention.
The ICF Limassol continues the examinations.
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"The task of the Courts is to ensure the safety of citizens and their property, sending a strong message with the penalties they impose on any would-be offender," Limassol District Court Judge Kyriakos Georgiou said in a ruling yesterday, sentencing a 29-year-old defendant to an immediate sentence of 20 months in prison for three car arsons.
As Filenews learns, the defendant was found guilty after a hearing, on 3 charges related to the crime of arson, while he is a person sentenced 10 years ago, to 6 years in prison for the crime of robbery.
"The need to protect the public from such crimes that cause harm not only to their victims, but also create a sense of insecurity and fear among citizens, has been repeatedly stressed," the Court said in its ruling.
The defendant may not have pleaded guilty to the offences and chose to stand trial, but based on the findings reached by the Court, he appears to have admitted to a complaining owner that he set fire to the vehicles, revealing to him that he was "screwed up".
According to the facts, the 29-year-old around 3 am on July 5, 2023, exited the parking lot, next to a shop on Vasileos Pavlou Street and placed gasoline on the right front wheel of a vehicle, while then, holding a small plastic bottle, created an incendiary strip of 9 meters towards the parking lot from which he exited and then set fire. In addition to the destruction of the above vehicle, the 29-year-old caused damage to 2 other vehicles that were parked nearby.
In the parking lot from which the accused exited, a shoulder bag was found in which 3 swabs of genetic material were found which after correlation with buccal swabs taken from 3 suspicious individuals, the genetic material found in the bag, was linked to the accused.
According to details of the case and what emerged during its investigation by the ICF of Limassol, a few days after the arson, a prosecution witness and complainant reported that he received a friend request on Facebook from the defendant and after accepting it, the latter sent him a text message that he burned his car by mistake and that he was "lost".
The 29-year-old, in another conversation he had with the witness, admitted to him that he burned the cars and that he would also burn a third person's vehicle and the complainant has no evidence against him. The defendant has a previous conviction of the Pafos Assize Court in 2014 where he was given various sentences, the longest being 6 years on the robbery charge.
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in-cyprus
The parents of a 3.5-month-old baby who died in Lakatamia have been charged with manslaughter.
The 23-year-old father and the 21-year-old mother were indicted today and will appear before the Nicosia Criminal Court on October 3.
The couple has been in custody since the infant’s death on July 28. The baby was found to have been severely malnourished, with insect bites and signs of neglect. An autopsy revealed the child’s dire condition.
Police investigations indicate that the mother abandoned the baby just hours before the father called for an ambulance.
The infant had been suffering from a high fever for several days, but neither parent sought medical attention.
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Cyprus Police
The Police are investigating a case of negligent and reckless actions, in relation to the fire that broke out yesterday afternoon, in the district of Paphos and that burned about a hectare of land, with wild dry vegetation, reed beds and trees. For the case of negligent and reckless acts, a 36-year-old man was accused in writing, to be called before the Court for trial. The fire broke out around 2.30 in the afternoon on Friday, in an area in Kouklia. Members of the Fire Service, the Forestry Department, as well as the Game Service rushed to extinguish it, while members of the Police also assisted. From the tests carried out to ascertain the causes of the fire, it was found that the fire had started in a car, which was found burnt in the area, specifically, at a point near the beach. They searched for the owner of the vehicle, a 36-year-old man, who was located by members of the Police, in Paphos district, shortly before 9:00 p.m., at his residence. When interrogated, the 36-year-old told the police that, while he was in the coastal area of Kouklia at noon on Friday, after turning on the air conditioning system of his car, he perceived smoke fumes on the dashboard of the vehicle and found that his car had caught fire. After he unsuccessfully tried to extinguish the fire, he abandoned his burning car at the scene, failing to inform the authorities about the fire that had broken out. The examinations continue from the Kouklion Police Station.
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Filenews
The Limassol District Court approved today the renewal of their detention for another 8 days in relation to the two suspects in the brutal murder under investigation of Andreas Kouzoupis and his 38-year-old Slovak friend, who were killed last week and found charred on a dirt road in the area of Litovounos, in the Limassol district.
During today's proceedings, the judge of the Limassol District Court, K. Constantinou, appealed for the sworn testimony to be given to journalists to do their job properly. The suspects' lawyers did not object to the police requesting the journalists, stressing that there should be proper information from press representatives.
According to the request of the examiner of the case, Deputy Lieutenant, Antonis Pantelidis, the two suspects continue to state their own positions, which however contradict what each one says. Despite implicating themselves, yet one points to the other as the person who executed the victims.
On 02/08/24 information was obtained that on 30/07/24 in a specific area in Arakapas, at the point where the water tank of the village is located, gunshots were heard. Members of the ICF and the Moni Police Station went to the scene and the scene was cordoned off. A blood-like substance and other evidence were found at the scene, as well as the 38-year-old Kouzoupis' mobile phone.
The scene was cordoned off and on 03/08/24 examinations were carried out by members of the ICF of Limassol and the Ministry of Defence of the Police Headquarters and various items were received, including the mobile phone that was found, which was found to be the mobile phone of the 38-year-old victim.
From buying the speaker, drug debts
On 03/08/24, the 19-year-old suspect made a voluntary statement at his request stating that he and Kouzoupis are fellow villagers and knew each other. During the month of July 2024, when the 23-year-old suspect moved to the village of Dierona, almost daily Kouzoupis transported drugs to him, which he gave to the 23-year-old, as well as to a 2nd person whom he did not want to name.
At the end of the month, Kouzoupis began pressuring and threatening the 19-year-old for the money the 23-year-old suspect owed him, for drugs, as well as asking him for the sum of €800 for a megaphone that they agreed to sell him and eventually the 19-year-old refused to buy. After informing the 23-year-old suspect, decided the 19-year-old to give the 23-year-old suspect his shotgun and shoot Andreas Kouzoupis.
He gives his 23-year-old friend as the murder executioner
He arranged the appointment at the spot where the second scene was located on 30/07/24 and in the evening after picking up the 23-year-old suspect by car, they went to the point where the appointment had been arranged and waited for the 38-year-old Kouzoupis, who told them that he would take him there another person. While waiting, they saw a car approaching and both exited the car and the 23-year-old suspect who was holding the shotgun in which he placed two rounds of ammunition, shot the 1st victim as soon as he got out of the car and immediately after the 2nd victim (39-year-old Slovak) who was sitting in the driver's seat of the car.
They intended to throw the victims' vehicle into a cliff
The 19-year-old suspect then pushed the 2nd victim into the passenger seat and then the two lifted Kouzoupis off the ground and put him in the back seats of the car. Then the 23-year-old suspect got into the victims' car and the 19-year-old suspect got into his car, which was ahead, and they went to the area of Litovounos in order to throw the car with the victims into a cliff. When they reached the point of the 2nd scene, it was not possible to throw it on the cliff and therefore they pushed it downhill dirt road and the car stopped on trees. Then, he said, the 23-year-old suspect told him to go to a gas station to buy gasoline in order to burn the car so as not to leave fingerprints.
On their way to a nearby gas station, the 23-year-old suspect, at some point while driving the car, removed the 2 cartridges from the shotgun and threw them out of the window. After the two arrived at the petrol station, the 19-year-old suspect found a plastic water bottle and a plastic oil container in a garbage bin of the petrol station and after putting €10 in the coin receiver of the petrol station, filled the bottle and the container with petrol, the remaining quantity was placed in the car of the 1st suspect.
They then returned to the scene where the 23-year-old suspect got off and grabbed only the plastic bottle from the car and set the car on fire. Then, he ran back to his car where he reported that the fire had burned his beard a little. They then went to the 19-year-old's house where he left the plastic container containing gasoline as well as the shotgun and then drove the 19-year-old suspect to the 23-year-old's house taking with them the cohabitant of the former, to whom they did not report anything.
At the house of the 23-year-old suspect they met his wife who, after seeing blood on the shoes of the first and then reported to her that it was the blood of a hare. Subsequently, the 19-year-old returned home where he left the cohabitant and as he mentioned along with another person, went to Limassol where he stayed for a few hours and then returned. Both on his way to and from Limassol, he passed twice by the scene where they burned the car with the victims and saw that there was the Fire Brigade and Police.
They returned to the scene of the murder and covered the blood with dirt
On 05/08/24 the 19-year-old suspect made scene suggestions where he indicated the petrol station from which they obtained the petrol, the place where they burned the car and the victims, the place where the victims were shot. At the suggestions, the 19-year-old suspect explained their modus operandi. At the point where the 2 victims were shot, he said that after burning the car, they returned to where they covered the blood with dirt and threw away various personal belongings of the victims. He also led the police to his home where he indicated the plastic oil tank with gasoline which was received as evidence, while 2 mats of his car were also received which he had removed from his car.
Their testimonies are refuted. They went for prey... gives the 19-year-old as the killer
On 06/08/24 an interrogation statement was received from the 29-year-old suspect who reported that on 30/07/24 he received calls on his phone from the 19-year-old who asked him to go hare hunting. The same night, the 19-year-old picked him up in his car from his home and inside the car was his shotgun belonging to the latter, dismantled. They then went to the area where the Arakapas fence is and the suspects got out of the car, the 19-year-old suspect was in possession of his shotgun which he assembled and that he was holding a light that was in the 19-year-old suspect's car. Then, as the 23-year-old claimed, he was looking for prey with the lantern. After about 20 minutes, an Opel car arrived at the scene and the 19-year-old suspect approached the car which stopped when the passenger got out of the car holding a light in his hand.
He claimed the 19-year-old asked him to turn off the lantern he was holding and then shot him in the head and he fell to the ground. At the same time, the 19-year-old suspect moved to the driver's seat of the car and shot the driver in the head through the open window of the car. He also pushed the driver into the passenger seat and then dragged Kouzoupis and placed him in the back seats of the car. The 19-year-old suspect then ordered him to drive his car ahead of the victims' car he would drive and signal where to go.
After guiding him to a point on the road, he signalled him to get right and they both stopped at that point. Then the 19-year-old suspect got out of the victims' car he was driving and single-handedly pushed the car downhill. He then returned to his car and asked him to go to the passenger seat, and then the 19-year-old sat in the driver's seat and placed the shotgun open, in the middle of the seats between the driver and passenger, with the shotguns in it.
In fear, he burned the vehicle, the 23-year-old claims
He also claimed that the 19-year-old suspect drove to the gas station and after stopping, shouted at him in an angry tone to get out of the car as well. After placing gasoline in a bottle and plastic container, they then returned to where the 19-year-old suspect pushed the car. When they arrived, the latter took the bottle of petrol and headed to the car and, as he said, ordered him to follow him, which he did, in fear. After approaching the car, the 19-year-old doused the rear seats and the victim with gasoline and threateningly asked him to light a fire.
Then he set fire to the car with the lighter he was holding, causing his beard to burn on his left side and also his left hand.
They then returned to the 19-year-old suspect's car and started to leave, and while they were returning to the scene of the shooting, at some point on the road the 19-year-old took the cartridges out of the shotgun and threw them out the window. After returning to the scene where the victims were shot, the latter got out of the car and placed dirt on the spot where there was blood, while throwing some objects and a mobile phone that were left at the scene. They then went to his house where the 19-year-old came down and took with him the plastic container that had gasoline as well as the shotgun.
After a while, the 19-year-old suspect returned to the car without the above and was wearing different clothes and shoes after he told him that they were stained with blood. The cohabitant of the 1st suspect came to the car and together they went to his house where they sat for a few minutes and then they departed and the 2nd suspect went to bed.
On 07/08/24 the 23-year-old suspect made tent suggestions at his own request, where he indicated the scenes of the offenses and during the instructions, explained their mode of action. He also pointed to a specific barber shop which he visited the day after committing the offences 31/07/24 where he was treated for his beard that had been burned.
According to the examiner of the case, 57 statements have been received to date and 7 investigations have been conducted. Also, more than 100 items were received from the 2 scenes as well as from other points related to the case, which have been sent for scientific examinations and the results are awaited. Furthermore, the recordings of a number of CCTV were received and evaluated, while after locating the scene where the two victims are believed to have been murdered. A further 53 statements are expected to be taken from the environment of suspects, victims and other persons directly and indirectly involved in the case. Also, 4 more searches will be carried out at specific points in search of evidence related to the case that has not been located.
