Pafos Live 28 August 2025
The Paphos Unified Assize Court today imposed a 16-year prison sentence on a 64-year-old Greek Cypriot.
The concurrent 16-year prison sentences were imposed when he was found guilty of charges related to rape and sexual abuse of two underage girls.
According to a statement by the Registrar of the Paphos District Court, for the purposes of imposing the above sentences, the seriousness of the offences, the circumstances under which the offences were committed, the infliction of blows and mental trauma on the victims due to the heinous behaviour they suffered at a young and fragile age, and the personal and family circumstances of the accused, were taken into account.
It is reported that the adverse effects on his family, his clean criminal record, the health problems that the defendant is facing, and his age at the present time in relation to life expectancy were also taken into account.
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Members of the Police, in cooperation with officials of the Customs Department, conducted searches last night in kiosks in the Famagusta district, during which packages of controlled medicine, as well as duty-free tobacco products, were found and confiscated.
During the investigation that took place shortly before 1.00am, in one of the kiosks, members of the Famagusta OPE and the Customs Department, identified 101 unused metal ampoules that are being investigated whether they contain a controlled drug and specifically nitric oxide – "laughing gas", one (1) metal canister, and 47 balloons.
The 41-year-old person in charge of the premises was arrested for the purpose of examinations, upon completion of which, shortly before 4.00 a.m., he was released.
The case of illegal possession of a controlled drug for the purpose of supply to another person is being investigated by the Ayia Napa Police Station.
It is worth mentioning that nitric oxide is a pharmaceutical product, which is used exclusively for medical purposes, as an anaesthetic gas, in minor surgical procedures. It is administered only under the supervision of a doctor, since its use is dangerous to the health of the user.
Investigations by members of the Police and the officers of the Customs Department were also carried out at two other kiosks in the Famagusta district, where duty-free tobacco products were located and confiscated.
Shortly before 1:30 a.m., during the search of a kiosk, 82 boxes of 200 cigarettes, 83 packs of 20 cigarettes, and 19 boxes of 200 heated cigarettes were found and confiscated.
The 30-year-old manager of the premises was issued an out-of-court notice of payment of a fine by the Customs Department.
It was preceded around 1.00 after midnight, a search of a kiosk, where 48 sublinguals of nicotine were found and confiscated.
The 40-year-old manager of the premises was issued by the Customs Department with an out-of-court notice of payment of a fine.
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A 25-year-old third-country national, who also works as a food delivery man, was attacked in the early hours of Wednesday by a group of young people, according to a police statement.
According to the complaint to the Nicosia Police Department, at 1.00 a.m. yesterday, he went to deliver a food order to an area in Aglantzia, where a number of 5-6 young people who received the food order, attacked and stole his motorcycle and helmet, his mobile phone, and his purse containing a sum of money and his personal documents.
During the attack, one of the perpetrators pulled out a threatening knife, it adds.
The 25-year-old later found his mobile phone and helmet, as well as his motorcycle, in the area, according to the police statement.
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A 44-year-old man, a third-country citizen, was arrested for facilitating the Police investigations regarding an investigated case of attempted murder of a security guard and the arson of four vehicles of a car rental company in Pyla, which took place on August 14.
According to the Larnaca Police Department, "the 44-year-old, convict, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday, August 28. An investigation was carried out in the 44-year-old's cell, by virtue of a court search warrant and various documents were received."
Today the 44-year-old will appear before the Larnaca District Court for the issuance of a detention order.
It is noted that two other persons are in custody for the same case, a third-country citizen, aged 27 and a European citizen, aged 19.
The 27-year-old, who lives in a village in the Paphos district, was arrested yesterday, Wednesday, and was placed in eight-day detention by the Larnaca District Court.
As Lieutenant Police Officer Giorgos Charalambous, Head of the Larnaca Police Department, said, "a testimony emerged against the 27-year-old that connects him to the arrangement for the receipt of the stolen vehicle used for the criminal act and its delivery, for money, to other persons. The 27-year-old's participation in the commission of the criminal act cannot be ruled out."
He also added that "the Larnaca TAE is evaluating information and testimonies in order to arrest other persons" who may be involved in the case.
Moreover, the second arrested in connection with the case, aged 19, was placed in eight-day detention on August 22 as a suspect for offences relating to conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit a felony, attempted murder, arson, illegal possession of a firearm and explosives, theft of a vehicle and theft.
According to the facts of the case, around 4 a.m. on August 14, four cars were set on fire in the premises of a car rental office, located on the coastal road of Pyla.
From the examinations carried out by members of the ADE and the TAE of Larnaca who went to the area, it became clear that two people who were in a car, approached the scene and set fire to the vehicles after covering them with flammable material.
The security guard at the site reported to the Police that he heard a number of shots but without any injuries.
It is noted that the investigators of the case received from the area material from a closed circuit surveillance which seems to have recorded the movements of the perpetrators.
The Larnaca District Court today issued an eight-day detention order against a 27-year-old man, to facilitate police investigations into an investigated case of attempted murder of a security guard and arson of four vehicles, offences committed on August 14 in Pyla.
According to the Police, the arrested man is a third-country national who lives in a village in the Paphos district and the investigators of the case conducted searches yesterday in a house, vehicles and premises in the city.
The 27-year-old appeared today before the Larnaca District Court, which issued a detention order against him for eight days.
It is recalled that for the same case, a 19-year-old European citizen, also a resident of Paphos, was arrested, who on August 22 was detained for eight days as a suspect for offences relating to conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit a felony, attempted murder, arson, illegal possession of a firearm and explosives, theft of a vehicle and theft.
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Filenews
The arrest and search warrants of the apartment and vehicle of the Azerbaijani accused of espionage were legally issued by the Limassol District Court, the Supreme Court ruled.
The arrested man faces charges at the Limassol Assize Court for espionage, publishing news related to defense projects, entering a prohibited area and money laundering and has denied the charges.
At his request to the Supreme Court, he requested permission to challenge the validity of the warrants issued on 21/6/2025 and concerning this serious case.
It is the applicant's position, as developed by his lawyer Efstathios K. Efstathiou, that the uncritical acceptance of unsubstantiated and irrefutable information as a sufficient legal basis for the issuance of the appealed warrants, originating from a third country, outside the European Union, without an institutional or legal framework of mutual recognition or judicial cooperation, constitutes a material error on a legal issue and an excess of authority on the part of the lower Court.
The dependence of a member state of the European Union, is added, by information of a third country, the source of which is inaccessible, uncontrollable and not cross-checked, is not allowed. The lower court, it is indicated, had no evidence to objectively assess the reliability of the foreign information, the content of which was not accompanied by anything else, nor was it confirmed by independent findings. The so-called confirmation of the information received, through physical surveillance by the Services of the Republic, constitutes circular reasoning, limited to superficial observations. As a result, the establishment of a reasonable suspicion is incomplete and the result of an error on the part of the lower court.
Supreme Court judge Angelos David who reviewed the application rejected the claim that the information came from a third country outside the EU, citing the investigator's sworn testimony that simply referred to information from a partner country.
It is a finding of the Court that in the case under discussion, the information received referred in a specific way to the applicant's involvement in the offences under investigation, his manner of action and reaction, his behaviour and his role in relation to them. "These were not general and vague allegations, nor of course conclusive conclusions and assumptions of the whistleblower. At the same time, as brought to the attention of the Lower Court, the information received from the foreign service was confirmed, after physical surveillance of the applicant in a specific period of time, by the Services of the Republic," the judge said.
The Supreme Court added that the suspicions of the police against the applicant in the case under discussion were entirely reasonable. Nor could the necessity of issuing the arrest warrant sought, in the light of what has been brought to the attention of the Court, validly be called into question. In addition to the necessity to prevent the commission of the offences under investigation through the arrest of the applicant, the risk of his escape from Cyprus and interference in the work of justice and the investigative work, through the destruction of evidence, is visible, the Court concluded, rejecting the application.
It is noted that the offences in question were allegedly committed during the month of April until 21.06.2025, in the Republic of Cyprus. The Azerbaijani British passport holder was allegedly collecting information about the presence of the British at the Akrotiri Base and the Andreas Papandreou Base in Paphos and that he may be organizing an immediate terrorist attack. The applicant, according to the information cited by the Police, is in contact with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
From surveillance, he was seen on foot moving near the British bases almost daily, holding a camera, a magnifying glass and three mobile phones (Smart Phones). He was seen taking photos with his mobile phones as well as other electronic devices and his camera, as well as chatting with his mobile phones and taking printed notes.
Parenthetically, it is reported that three days later a second Azerbaijani was arrested in Crete, also for espionage.
