Pafos Live 4 September 2025
The 53-year-old Ukrainian accused of the murder of 34-year-old Irene Papakitsa in Chloraka on August 17 is expected to be discharged from the Athalassa Mental Health Hospital today.
Immediately afterwards he will be arrested again and tomorrow he is expected to appear at the Paphos District Court for the issuance of a new detention order. Upon completion of the examinations, the 53-year-old, who faces charges of premeditated murder, femicide and attempted murder of the minor child of the woman with whom he lived and murdered, is expected to be referred to trial before the Paphos Permanent Assize Court.
The 53-year-old, after the murder of his partner, was initially hospitalized at the Nicosia General Hospital and later at the Athalassa Mental Health Hospital. Papakitsa's 14-year-old child lives in Paphos with close relatives of his mother.
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Yesterday at around 9:20 in the morning, while a 33-year-old woman was driving her vehicle on the Nicosia-Limassol highway, near Agios Tychonas, under circumstances that are being investigated, she collided sideways with a truck.
From the collision, there were no injuries, while the vehicles suffered minor damage. Members of the Limassol Traffic Police went to the scene and in a preliminary alcohol test to which the 33-year-old was subjected, she was found positive with an indication of 182μg% instead of 22μg%, which is the limit allowed by law.
Subsequently, she was transferred to the Limassol Traffic Police, where she underwent a final alcohol test with a reading of 148μg% instead of 22μg%. The 33-year-old was arrested for flagrant offenses and was detained.
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A 43-year-old man was arrested yesterday afternoon on the basis of a court warrant and detained, for facilitating investigations into investigated cases of burglaries and thefts committed in a hotel in the Famagusta district.
Specifically, according to the data under examination, the 43-year-old is allegedly involved in eleven cases of burglaries and thefts from hotel rooms committed between the dates of July 18 – and September 1, 2025.
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Filenews
Differences they had with each other during the cohabitation seem to be the cause of the stabbings between foreigners this morning, in the area of Agios Ioannis in Limassol. The 23-year-old suspect was arrested and detained. He was brought in the morning before the Limassol District Court, which ordered his pre-trial detention for a period of 5 days.
According to information from Filenews, the 23-year-old suspect, an asylum seeker from Cameroon, whose request is pending before the Administrative Court, verbally admitted at the scene of the incident that he stabbed his 28-year-old former roommate from Congo. He claimed that they had differences between them and because – as he said – he was angry, he stabbed him without having a clear mind.
He then pointed to the knife, which was taken as evidence. Subsequently, under written interrogation, he gave various allegations in relation to the reasons that led him to stab the 28-year-old, including the fact that it was provoked.
It should be noted that the 28-year-old foreigner from Congo was transferred to the Limassol General Hospital, where it was found that he suffered a puncture of the lung and pneumothorax. He was detained for hospitalization and, according to the attending physicians, his condition is considered serious but out of danger.
The incident took place around 1 a.m. on Thursday outside the house where the victim lives, while other foreign persons were at the scene.
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Members of the YKAN and the OPE of Nicosia, conducted a search this morning with a court warrant at the home of a 31-year-old man in Strovolos.
During the investigation, approximately 610 grams of cannabis and the amount of €3,910 were found and confiscated.
The 31-year-old was arrested and detained to facilitate the investigations.
Also, in the context of data collection and evaluation, members of the YKAN went this morning to a specific area of Limassol, where they found a bag on the sidewalk which they received.
During the subsequent check, it was found that inside the bag were nylon bags containing cannabis, with a total gross weight of 418 grams, as well as a nylon bag containing white powder resembling cocaine, weighing about 6 grams, an electronic scale in which there were traces of dry cannabis plant matter and other objects that were taken as evidence.
The YKAN continues the examinations.
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in-cyprus
The Limassol Criminal Court concluded the trial of the double Ypsonas killings yesterday, sentencing the second defendant Andreas Constantinou, to consecutive 10-year prison terms for each manslaughter charge, totalling 20 years imprisonment.
The sentence relates to the knife killings of 44-year-old Marios Onisiforou and 52-year-old Michalis Michael, known as “Millas”, who were stabbed to death in front of friends and patrons at a pub they had visited for entertainment on 29 June 2023.
Andreas Constantinou receives consecutive 10-year terms for manslaughter charges
The court’s unanimous decision will be served from the date Constantinou was taken into custody.
The judges noted that manslaughter is the second most serious crime in the Criminal Code after murder, emphasising that manslaughter cases are showing an upward trend based on the number of cases pending before the courts.
The court referenced Constantinou’s common unlawful purpose with co-defendant Stelios Antoniou, noting that whilst he initially did not know Antoniou carried a knife, he subsequently saw it, continued to remain with him, and participated in the incident by kicking Michael whilst he was already stabbed and on the ground.
Court notes rising trend in manslaughter cases across Cyprus
The Limassol Criminal Court previously imposed the maximum penalty under the Criminal Code – life imprisonment – on 51-year-old defendant Stelios Antoniou on 28 August. The court unanimously sentenced him to consecutive life sentences.
For Constantinou, the court determined that the crime of premeditated double murder was not established and therefore found him guilty of manslaughter of the two victims rather than murder.
Based on prosecution evidence, the court found that Constantinou formed a common plan with former co-defendant Stelios Antoniou to attack the two victims.
Within the framework of executing this purpose, he could reasonably foresee as a possibility the killing of the victims under the specific circumstances.
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Cyprus Mail
Murat Metin Hakki, the lawyer of the five Greek Cypriots who were arrested in the north, was released on bail on Thursday after having been arrested himself on Wednesday.
He had been led into the Trikomo district court in handcuffs, and, like the five Greek Cypriots, was accused of “personal data violations” relating to handling and circulating information regarding immovable property in the Trikomo area
He spoke to reporters upon his release, thanking those who had expressed “concern” about his arrest, and commenting on both his own arrest and the arrest of his clients.
“The events of the last two months are quite unfortunate developments for both our country and the legal community. We will patiently and resolutely continue this process, monitor it, and hopefully, conclude it positively. In fact, I see many oddities in this case from a legal perspective,” he said.
He added that “accusations and charges have been levelled against me and other individuals, as well as my Greek Cypriot clients, who hold rights to immovable properties under investigation, regarding the violation of personal data”, and that in his own case, “I absolutely and unequivocally deny this”.
He said the concept of “personal data” in Turkish Cypriot law is “quite vague” as the current wording of the law “means it includes any information about any person”.
“So, for example, if someone were to publish a report today claiming that Murat’s hair had started turning grey, would that be a violation of my personal data? So, there are many contradictions in this law. These are important issues. When you look at the basic principles of sentencing, the definition of a crime needs to be very clear,” he said.
He then added that “I do not believe it is against any law for people to conduct research about a property to which they have rights under international law”, adding that he is “completely against “ the charges levelled against the five Greek Cypriots on this matter and that “such an interpretation of the law is out of the question”.
Additionally, he said there is “nothing clear in the law regarding land registry records”, which “explicitly prohibits” access to them.
“I believe that penalties cannot be imposed on matters not explicitly regulated,” he said.
He then moved onto the matter of the Immovable Property Commission (IPC), which was set up in the north in 2005 to handle claims for compensation, restitution of Greek Cypriot-owned property in the north and land exchanges, filed by Greek Cypriots who fled the north after 1974 and their descendants.
“A significant portion of property belongs to a client of mine, who is being held in prison. According to Greek Cypriot legislation and our legislation, as I mentioned earlier, he is the rightful owner … My client has submitted an application for the return of his properties, and the five properties subject to this complaint are most likely to return in any case,” he said.
With this in mind, he said, the arrest of the five Greek Cypriots made no sense.
“The funny thing is, we learned that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is among the complainants. In other words, the state has filed a complaint regarding properties it is obliged to return, which is a whole other factual and legal anomaly,” he said.
He stressed that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision which declared the IPC to be an effective domestic remedy in 2010 was a “very good decision for us”, but warned that this may be in jeopardy after the arrest of the five Greek Cypriots in July.
“If the process that began regarding the Greek Cypriots here in Trikomo one day goes to the ECtHR, it is clear what the approach of any international court will be regarding anyone entering the property they claim without posing a physical danger to anyone or conducting research about their own property, and this will cause the pendulum to swing,” he said.
As such, he said, the Greek Cypriots’ arrest could cause the reversal of the ruling which declared the IPC to be an effective domestic remedy “to be reversed one day”, but said he had full confidence in the north’s courts to do the right thing.
“I have absolute confidence in the judiciary of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus … The TRNC judiciary is a source of pride for this country. All the courts in Cyprus are Anglo-Saxon courts. We will not allow them to become Mussolini courts,” he said.
Returning to his own case, he said it is “absolutely unacceptable for a lawyer to be treated this way for a transaction involving their client” and that he “will not compromise on any point in protecting the interests of [his] Greek Cypriot clients in the north”.
Hakki had been arrested upon his arrival at the north’s Ercan (Tymbou) airport on Wednesday. He has been representing the Greek Cypriots in their case at the IPC.
The Greek Cypriots face two cases, one of which is being held regarding charges of privacy violations, trespassing, and breaching the peace, which is being heard at a civilian court in Trikomo.
That trial is set to continue on Friday.
Their other trial, wherein one of the five Greek Cypriots has been charged with illegally entering the north, while the other four stand accused of aiding and abetting the illegal entry, is being held at a military court in northern Nicosia.
On Wednesday, that trial was adjourned for a week due to the ill health of one of the five defendants.
