Filenews 9 August 2025
The investigations of the Famagusta TAE are intensive with the aim of locating a 48-year-old Greek Cypriot, who is alleged to be the perpetrator of the murder attempt against a 61-year-old colleague in Vrysoules. The perpetrator and the victim, according to information from the Police, were working together in an egg sales company and argued, with the 48-year-old entering a car and hitting the 61-year-old, who is fighting to stay alive.
The attempted murder was committed yesterday afternoon near the premises where the two worked. The Police received information about an injured person in an area in Vrysoules around 3 a.m. and rushed to the scene for examinations.
The injured man was taken by ambulance to the Famagusta General Hospital, where it was found that he suffered a skull fracture and had a cerebral haemorrhage. After he was intubated, he was rushed to the Nicosia General Hospital, where he underwent a long surgery. His health condition is judged by the attending physicians as critical.
According to the information collected by the Police, the 61-year-old had a verbal confrontation with another person. Subsequently, this person allegedly entered a car and after starting, headed towards the 61-year-old and hit him violently, resulting in him being thrown to the ground and hitting his head.
The Police are looking for testimonies from the area, as well as material from closed circuit surveillance to shed light on the escape route of the wanted person. It is noted that the attempted murder took place in front of the eyes of persons who have been called to testify.
The Police are evaluating testimonies that the perpetrator and the victim had some differences between them.
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The Larnaca District Court imposed yesterday 08/08/2025, a 45-day prison sentence on a 55-year-old driver, as she was found guilty in the charge of driving a vehicle, with a ratio of alcohol which exceeded the limit set by law.
In addition, the court imposed on the defendant four points of sentence and deprivation of a driver's license for a period of 30 days, which will come into force after her release.
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A total of 1,652 citizen rifles have been seized by the Police for fear of their owners committing crimes. This results from an answer given last 10 days by the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Marios Hartsiotis, following a parliamentary question.
Specifically, as he informed MP Nikos Georgiou, so far 228 military rifles and 1,424 hunting rifles have been seized.
Mr. Hartsiotis, responding to the MP's four relevant questions, also informs about the procedure, which is followed when a person is decided - on the basis of the legislation - to surrender the firearm in his possession.
In his response, the minister states: "For the above question, the actions set out in the Memorandum prepared in cooperation with the Ministries of the Interior, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Justice and Public Order and the Ministries of Health and Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance are followed. Upon receipt by the local Police Stations, they are kept in a safe place, while the military rifles immediately after their receipt, the unit of the complainant (GEEF) is informed, members of which receive the weapons for safekeeping".
The Police at "F"
"F" contacted a competent officer of the Cyprus Police. We asked about the hunting rifles that remain in the custody of the Police. As we were told, "there are special storage warehouses in specific places and they are designed for this purpose".
Domestic violence
The parliamentary scrutiny also aimed to determine whether firearms are frozen by persons prosecuted for domestic violence offences. Nikos Georgiou asked how many such cases in the last five years the Police proceeded to issue a decree revoking the license to possess weapons against an accused. "In all cases where the accused was in possession of a shotgun, the Police proceeded to revoke the license to possess a weapon," replied the minister, Marios Hartsiotis. Moreover, in a total of 316 cases throughout Cyprus, the Police requested and received weapons from those accused of domestic violence. In other words, it acted proactively before a case was even registered.
The Medical Council
Another issue touched on by parliamentary scrutiny is whether complainants were examined by a medical council regarding the revocation of their license. The Minister of Justice replies in writing that 330 people have been referred for examination and adds that "after the result of the Medical Council, the weapon is returned to the suspect accordingly or the license of the registration certificate of his weapon is revoked, in which case it can be transferred to a person of the complainant's choice or confiscated by the Director of Customs". He also clarifies that "the Medical Council meets once a year".
The minister adds the following: "At this point, it should be noted that in January 2025 a letter was sent to the Director General of the Ministry of Health, about the delay observed in the examination of the persons referred (beyond 2 years) and we were informed that it has been decided that the Medical Council has been decided to meet twice a month to alleviate the problem".
It should be noted that the MP of the Famagusta constituency raised the questions based on the legislation that provides the Police with the opportunity "to revoke the license to possess a weapon in case of complaint against a person for causing fear and/or threatening and/or using a weapon".
The issue of gun ownership and control of persons who possess weapons has been raised several times in the sphere of public debate. The last time the issue was raised was four years ago. On August 11, 2021 in Geri, 58-year-old M.P. shot with a shotgun and killed 29-year-old Stavros Antoniou, while he had shot, seriously injuring the latter's father. The journalistic investigation had revealed that the 58-year-old had shown aggressive behaviour in the past. In 2006 he was convicted of sabotage of vehicles and sentenced to five months in prison. At that time, the Police had stated that the crime had been statute-barred and they were unable to bind his rifle. Statements had also been made by the Commissioner for Legislation, Louisa Zannetou, who, referring to her remarks on pending legislation, gave her opinion on the licenses for the possession of shotguns, saying that they should be "expired and rechecked".
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Cyprus Mail
Two British nationals, both aged 22 years old, were arrested after attempting to smuggle a combined total of 25,000 untaxed cigarettes through Larnaca airport, the customs department announced on Friday.
The pair were travelling together and were due to board a flight from Larnaca to the United Kingdom on August 1, but a search of one of the pair’s luggage turned up a total of 60 boxes of 200 cigarettes each and a total of 1.75 kilograms of rolling tobacco.
The second passenger’s luggage was then searched, with customs department officials finding a total of 65 boxes of 200 cigarettes each and 1.25kg of rolling tobacco.
In both cases, the tobacco products did not bear the bilingual Turkish and Greek health warnings which are characteristic of tobacco products bought and sold in the Republic of Cyprus, nor did they bear the unique traceability code found on all tobacco products in the Republic of Cyprus.
As such, it was determined that import tax had not been paid for the products.
Both were then arrested and were subsequently released after paying a fine totalling €4,250.
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A 33-year-old British man was arrested after attempting to smuggle a total of 32,400 cigarettes for which no import tax had been paid through Paphos airport, the customs department announced on Friday.
The arrest took place on August 2, with the man having attempted to board a flight to the United Kingdom.
A search of the man’s luggage found the cigarettes divided into a total of 162 boxes containing 200 cigarettes each.
The cigarettes did not bear the bilingual Turkish and Greek health warnings which are characteristic of tobacco products bought and sold in the Republic of Cyprus, nor did their bear the unique traceability code found on all tobacco products in the Republic of Cyprus.
As such, it was determined that the requisite import tax had not been paid for them, and the man was arrested.
