Pafos Live 5 March 2025
The charge of murder was admitted before the Permanent Assize Court sitting in Paphos by a 50-year-old accused of the murder of his 43-year-old brother-in-law on July 3, 2024 in Peyia. The court said it would announce its decision on March 13 at 11:00.
The 50-year-old, who is in custody, appeared before the Permanent Assize Court on Tuesday and admitted that on July 3 he shot the 43-year-old with a gun, who was shot dead.
He also admitted the charge of possession, use and transport of a firearm without a possession license, and the charge of possession of explosives, without the permission of the Inspector of Explosives.
According to police, the incident began with an argument between the 50-year-old and the victim. Subsequent examinations revealed that the victim along with the suspect and other relatives were at a family dinner.
During dinner, according to police, the victim and the suspect argued, got into a confrontation, and other bystanders intervened.
The 50-year-old reportedly left the scene and soon returned in possession of a firearm with which he allegedly fatally wounded the victim and then fled the scene. The 50-year-old was arrested in the early hours of July 4, 2024.
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Pafos Press
The Paphos Criminal Court yesterday imposed a maximum prison sentence of nine years on an individual who was found guilty of charges relating to the illegal possession of drugs for the purpose of supply, money laundering and the transportation of an offensive weapon.
For the charges of which this person was found guilty, the court imposed prison sentences of 9 years, six months, three months and two months. The prison sentences are concurrent and the period during which the accused has been in custody, i.e. from May 7th until today, will also be taken into account.
The representative of the Prosecuting Authority, First Republic Attorney Andreas Hadjikyrou, said, among other things, that following information that reached the YMCA on May 7, 2024, which, among other things, concerned that a large quantity of drugs was present in a specific apartment in Kato Paphos, members of the YMCA placed the apartment in question under discreet surveillance on the same day and, as part of this surveillance, the accused was seen parking a car that he was driving near the apartment complex where the apartment in question was located.
The accused was then seen entering the apartment in question and then leaving it, without holding anything visible, getting back into the car and leaving.
This was followed, as he said, by a stop of the car driven by the accused, and as part of the investigation, among other things, a folding metal bat, a knife with a 9cm blade, and two keys on a key chain were found inside the car.
During the subsequent physical search, €370 were found in his pants pocket. On the same day, a search warrant was obtained for the apartment to which the information related and which the defendant had previously entered.
On May 8, 2024, members of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (YKAN) and the defendant went to the apartment complex for the purposes of executing the court warrant for a search of the apartment to which the information related to narcotics pertained.
During the investigation that followed, a travel suitcase was found, among other things, inside which there were 9 transparent nylon packages containing cannabis, a plastic container inside which there were 32 transparent nylon bags tied in a knot, inside which there was cannabis, a precision scale on which there were traces of cannabis and three transparent bags in which there were traces of cannabis.
When questioned, the accused, said Mr. Hadjikyrou, admitted that the entire quantity of cannabis found was his. In addition, the representative of the Prosecuting Authority stated that the accused has no previous convictions.
For his part, Costas Sialilis' defense attorney acknowledged the seriousness of the defendant's criminal action, but asked the Court, among other things, to take into account that the defendant was not a drug dealer and had not purchased the drugs with the intention of giving them to others.
He also said that he had purchased the drugs from another person whom he did not name because he feared for his life, and that this other person, taking advantage of the weakness of the specific accused, namely the fact that he was a drug user and his financial need, had approached him and given him access to the house to carry out his instructions to transport drugs, either to another place, or to supply other people.
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Filenews
Debts for damage caused some time ago to a relative's vehicle of one of the three suspects seem to be behind the case of abduction of a minor, which took place on Friday night (28/2) in an area of West Limassol.
Members of the Episkopi Police Station on Monday arrested another suspect, aged 18.5. The latter was brought this morning before the Limassol Court, which approved the request of the Police and ordered his detention for a period of one day.
It is recalled that the Police proceeded to the arrest of two persons, aged 29 and 24, who are in custody for 3 days, with the decree expiring tomorrow Wednesday and the case being registered before the Court. The suspects face offences of conspiracy, kidnapping or kidnapping of a person with intent to conceal and unfairly restrain him, robbery and threatening.
According to testimony obtained by authorities, the third suspect is believed to be the person driving the saloon vehicle, with a woman as a passenger, outside the kiosk where the kidnapping of the minor took place. He is also alleged to be the person who hit the complainant when he was transported by van to the Kolossi Castle area.
There, after beating the 17-year-old, the attackers stole his mobile phone and threatened him that if he filed a complaint with the police, they would kill him and burn down his house. According to the complainant, about three months ago one of the suspects called him asking to meet and demanding the sum of €200, citing compensation for damage caused by the minor to a relative's vehicle at an earlier time.
She even threatened him that if he did not pay the amount, they would burn down his house. The minor, according to what he claimed, went to a point in Erimi, where he left the amount of money. There, he saw one of the suspects go to the scene and take the money. He identified the suspect as the person driving the van who kidnapped him outside the kiosk on Friday night.
It should be noted that, following the minor's complaint to the Police, on the morning of March 1, a person called the Police and claimed to be the owner of the van. After mentioning that his name is Giannis, he claimed that he, along with another person, caught the minor outside the kiosk, as they knew him from a previous incident where, along with other compatriots, they had damaged a relative's vehicle.
In fact, he said that the other foreigners paid the damage, but the minor did not, implying that he was caught in order to compensate them. As it became known, the minor foreigner from Syria reported to the police that on February 28, while he was outside a kiosk in Kolossi, around 22:30 stopped in front of him a saloon vehicle, in which a man and a woman were aboard.
At the same time, he stopped a van from which the driver got off and forcibly put him inside the vehicle. A little later, the van stopped in the area of Kolossi Castle, where the minor realized that both persons who were in the first vehicle were also there. Then, the two men stole his mobile phone, worth €1,000, beat him and threatened that if he made a complaint to the police, they would kill him and burn his house and then abandoned him at the scene.
The 17-year-old returned home on foot and then, accompanied by his mother, filed a complaint with the police.
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The Police arrested one person yesterday, in connection with the case of injury of two people after a fight, which took place on Clean Monday, in the forest of Tekke in Larnaka.
He is a 30-year-old Cypriot permanent resident of Larnaka, who was arrested under a court warrant in connection with the offences of assault, negligent and reckless acts, acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm, stabbing and threatening.
The suspect is expected to appear in court tomorrow for a detention order.
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As part of the investigation into a robbery committed in Limassol on December 24, 2024, the Police proceeded yesterday to arrest a second person.
This is a 29-year-old man who was arrested on a court warrant and detained in order to facilitate interrogations.
Today, the 29-year-old is expected to appear before the Limassol District Court, where the request for a detention order will be examined.
We remind you that this is a case of robbery and theft of €100.000, which occurred at noon on Christmas Eve 2024 in an area of Limassol.
According to a complaint by a 32-year-old, at noon that day he had arranged a meeting in an area of Limassol with two persons in order to buy cryptocurrencies.
While they were in his vehicle to settle the purchase, one of the two persons hit him on the head and after grabbing a shoulder bag containing the above amount of money, fled in an unknown direction.
While they were in his vehicle to settle the purchase, one of the two persons hit him on the head and after grabbing a shoulder bag containing the above amount of money, fled in an unknown direction.
The second person was restrained by the complainant until the arrival of the Police, where he was arrested on the basis of a court warrant.
The case remains under investigation by the Limassol Crime Detection Department (ICF).
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First appearance today in court for the priest of the church of Archangel Michael in Platanistasa, Father George Kourris, who faces an unprecedented criminal case for the use of the bell.
Father George appeared today before the Nicosia District Court where his case was set. However, his lawyer asked for a postponement since he has not yet received the statements of the prosecution witnesses in order to study them and form an opinion on the witness material.
Following this development, the priest was not charged or asked whether or not he admits to the charges he faces. The case was adjourned to April 8 so that on that date he could be asked to answer the 20 charges contained in the indictment.
The Court ordered that the priest sign a bail of €2,000 in order to be present at the next hearing. As Filenews reported on February 19, the priest faces 20 charges involving the use of unlicensed loudspeakers and public nuisance, either with prolonged bell operation or with the use of sound amplification instruments.
All charges relate to the period July – September 2024 and it appears that some complainants had proceeded to record the church bell of Archangel Michael while it was ringing and handed over the recordings to the Police.
The indictment includes ten witnesses, eight residents of the community including the president of the community and two police officers. The case is believed to be the result of frictions that the priest had with members of the new community council and people living near the church, over the duration of the bell ringing, the use of loudspeakers and other issues for which letters were sent to the Metropolis of Morfou.
In another development, we are told, the new Church Committee announced last Sunday to the church public that a decision had been made that the bell would ring from half to one minute only. It is noted that Father George Kourris, who is currently not operating in the church due to sick leave, had asked the diocese to tell him the time within which the bell would ring but without receiving a reply.
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Sixty foreigners staying in Cyprus illegally were arrested yesterday by the Police in the context of an operation carried out in Nicosia.
Already 19 of them, according to a police statement, have departed from Cyprus for their countries of origin, while for the rest the repatriation procedures continue.
"The operation is part of specific actions by the Police, Nicosia Municipality and other State Services, decided on the initiative of the Minister of Justice, Mr. Marios Hartsiotis, to enhance the sense of security in Nicosia within the walls. During the operation, members of the Police carried out searches in various areas of the capital."
