Filenews 8 July 2025
An employee of the penitentiary is the 26-year-old woman who was arrested yesterday for the case of the alleged drug trafficking ring with the main suspect being the barrister Giorgos Christodoulou-Zavrantonas.
A competent source confirmed to Filenews the existing information that suggests the young woman may be a prison guard of the Central Prison.
However, for the time being, it has not been leaked what development in the investigative work of the Police led to the arrest of the 26-year-old.
However, what we do know is that in the first court proceedings for this case (27/6), in the context of the examination of the Police request for the detention of the six suspects, a report was made about the alleged role of prison guards.
More specifically, a Police informant presented three prison guards receiving sums from the 37-year-old, so that Zavratonas would receive favourable treatment. As it was reported about the prison officers last Friday, search warrants have been executed for their homes and three mobile phones have been seized. The information states that they have been made available.
For the case, in addition to the 26-year-old, 48-year-old Zavrantonas, a 37-year-old woman, her parents and brother, as well as a 40-year-old man were arrested.
The arrested persons are suspected of (1) conspiracy to commit a felony, (2) conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor, (3) offences in violation of the Corruption Prevention Law, (4) illegal possession of property and (5) offences relating to money laundering.
The offences based on the positions of the Police were committed between 1/1/2025 and 6/6/2025.
The TAE Headquarters, which is investigating the case in its requests so far for the detention of the suspects for the case in question, gives the image of the existence of a drug trafficking and trafficking ring with the 48-year-old barrister, Giorgos Christodoulou Zavratonas, as the mastermind.
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In the dock will be the parents of the 22-month-old infant, who was transferred last week to a private clinic in Limassol with extensive burns on his body and obvious signs of neglect. The five-day detention order of the two suspects expired today (7/7), and the parents were taken back to the Court, where the investigators of the Limassol TAE registered the case for trial against them before the District Court.
According to information from philenews, restrictive conditions were imposed on the two defendants in a closed-door procedure. The case was set for trial at the beginning of the new judicial year, around mid-September.
The defendants are now facing the offense of exposing a child to danger, in violation of Article 181 of Cap. 154 of the Criminal Code. The parents were released, on the part of their lawyers, Ioanna and Sylvia Adamou, to agree to restrictive conditions, i.e. to register their details in the list of persons whose exit from the country is prohibited. Not to go out to the non-controlled areas of the Republic. Sign a personal guarantee of €5,000 each and present themselves three times a week at a police station.
The condition of the infant
The 22-month-old infant has been hospitalized since last week at Makarios Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment to heal the burns he suffered. The child is accompanied by his grandmother. His health condition is out of danger.
As for the other three minor children of the family – two aged 4 and 5 and a 10-year-old from a previous relationship of the mother – they are under the supervision and care of the Welfare Office from the very first moment.
The chronicle of the case
It is recalled that the child was transferred on July 1 by his grandmother to a private hospital in the city, bearing second-degree burns and obvious signs of neglect. Members of the TAE and the Department of Minor Violations were immediately mobilized, who went to the hospital. There, they located the grandmother and she reported to the police that the child's mother had taken him to her home a little earlier, telling her that while he was cooking, he escaped her attention and was injured by boiling water.
However, according to the same information, when the mother was questioned by the members of the ICF, she initially repeated the same allegation. Later, she modified her version, stating that she had put the child in the bathroom, turned on the hot water to wash him, and left him alone in order to bring him clean clothes. When he returned, the child had already suffered burns from the hot water. She also mentioned that her husband was in the toilet at the time of the incident.
A search of the suspects' residence followed, where it was found that the claim of the father's presence in the toilet was not true, as there was no second toilet and the bathroom, where the child was found, was the only one. In addition, the living conditions in the house were judged to be unsuitable, with an obvious lack of cleanliness and hygiene, to a dangerous degree for children.
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An eight-day detention order against a 32-year-old man was issued today by the Larnaca District Court.
The 32-year-old was arrested yesterday afternoon, with a court arrest warrant, for facilitating investigations, regarding an investigated case of attempted arson, committed on 03/07/2025 in the Larnaca district.
According to the evidence under investigation and the complaint submitted to the Police by a 70-year-old man, around 5.30 in the morning on 03/07/2025, a suspicious person threw two incendiary objects of the "Molotov cocktail" type in the yard of his residence, resulting in a fire. The 70-year-old extinguished the fire before it spread and before any property damage was caused.
For the same case, another person, aged 35, was arrested. The 35-year-old was fired without being charged. The Larnaca TAE is investigating the case.
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A three-year prison sentence was imposed today by the Paphos Assize Court for his escape while he was under guard in his family home.
The 43-year-old defendant has admitted the charge of escaping from lawful detention and has not admitted the charge of conspiracy, which has finally been withdrawn from the judicial process. Theofanous will serve this sentence after serving the sentence imposed on him for the crime of murdering his partner and her three-year-old daughter.
Doros Theofanous had escaped from his paternal home in Choletria, during a planned visit to his relatives and after escaping the attention of members of the MMAD and prison guards who accompanied him. His arrest was possible a few days later, after utilizing information that reached the Police and according to which a person who resembled the wanted fugitive was walking in the coastal area of Amathous.
The 28-year-old, who admitted that he escaped the life sentence from Choletria in the Limassol area, was sentenced by the Assize Court to one and a half years in prison.
In 2011, the Court of Assize had imposed a life sentence on Doros Theofanous for the premeditated murder of his pregnant partner, Julia Oporok, 24, and a sentence of 35 years in prison on the charge of homicide for the murder of Victoria's 3-year-old daughter, sentences which are concurrent.
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A serious incident between a driver and a student at a bus stop seems to have unfolded in Limassol.
According to a video that was circulated on TikTok and is making the rounds on the internet, the bus driver is recorded spraying a student's eyes, after a heated argument.
According to the Police, "in relation to a video that saw the light of day and records an incident at a bus stop, the Police began an ex officio investigation of the case yesterday".
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The Police arrested a sixth person, aged 18, today, to facilitate the investigations regarding a robbery case, committed in Paphos, in the early hours of June 29, 2025.
It is recalled that for the same case, five other persons, aged 21, 17, 15, 14 and 19, were arrested in the previous days. A criminal case was registered against them yesterday, at the Paphos District Court.
The robbery with two tourists as victims was committed in the early hours of June 29, 2025, on a street in Paphos. According to the complainants, while they were walking on a city street, they were approached by about ten people, who attacked them and stole their personal belongings, a small amount of money and a mobile phone.
The complainants visited the Paphos General Hospital, where they were found to have abrasions and bruises. After receiving first aid, they were discharged.
The Paphos TAE continues the exams.
