Filenews 24 January 2026
There is mystery surrounding the injury of a 31-year-old man who was found stabbed yesterday afternoon in Larnaca, mobilizing the authorities.
According to the official information of the Police, today at 17:05 a TAE patrol, after a call, spotted a 31-year-old Cypriot outside a store in Larnaca receiving help from citizens, after suffering a knife wound to the abdomen.
After a few minutes, he was picked up by an ambulance and taken to Larnaca General Hospital where he was immediately admitted to the operating room.
Previously, the victim claimed that while he was at the scene where he was located, a person got out of a vehicle of a certain colour and stabbed him unnecessarily.
At the point where he was found, according to the Police, no traces of blood were found.
However, bloody apartment keys were found, which appear to have fallen from his clothes.
In an adjacent apartment building, specifically in the stairwell, small blood stains were found. Based on the keys and the number written on them, a search warrant was issued. Narcotic substances, syringes, precision scales and money were found inside the apartment, which were received by YKAN. No traces of blood were found inside the apartment.
The examinations revealed that the victim was seen injured at 17:00 in an adjacent field, before going to the place where he claimed to have been attacked. However, no traces of blood were found at this site either. The Police do not rule out the possibility that the scene of the commission of the criminal act is in a different place.
According to the Police, the apartment was rented two days ago by the victim online from the Airbnb platform.
The scene remains cordoned off and investigations will continue tomorrow.
According to the treating doctors, the victim was discharged from the operating room and has serious injuries.
The examinations continue from the TAE of Larnaca.
* * * * * *
Drugs, large amounts of black money in cash and evidence to provide "protection" to Larnaca businesses, appear to be presented in 19 videos found on the mobile phones of a Contract Soldier of the National Guard. These, along with information from the Police, brought to light the action of a well-structured criminal organization, which for three years, allegedly, "under the rule of violence and fear", has been imposing security guards in nightclubs to receive huge sums. This is the second organized crime group, which seems to be active in Larnaca, with the first being revealed after the unprecedented incident of shooting last Saturday.
The information that these two groups are at war for the control of protection, something that "F" wrote in many of his reports, was also confirmed during yesterday's bringing to court the five suspects, who are alleged to be members of the second criminal organization. These are Greek Cypriots, 42, 22, 31, 29 and 29 years old, who were arrested on Thursday as part of a large operation by ADE Larnaca.
The 42-year-old is said to be the head of the criminal group, with the network including, according to the Police, SYOP, the 29-year-old brother of the 42-year-old, a 31-year-old and another 29-year-old. According to what was said in court, information received at the Larnaca TAE on 12/12/2025 stated that the 42-year-old "belongs to a criminal organization which operates in Larnaca and has control over the trafficking of large quantities of drugs. The trafficking was carried out by the 2nd suspect (SYOP), with the 1st suspect being the recipient of the proceeds of their sale."
Also, according to the same information, the 42-year-old is said to be the head of a criminal organization, which is active in Larnaca "to provide protection to nightclubs, with the proceeds going to him". Both he and members of his team, according to the Police, are found in nightclubs in Larnaca acting as security guards.
It is noted that some of the suspects' defense attorneys objected to their detention. The court, in which draconian security measures were taken, after a long process, reserved its decision for Monday, regarding the Police's request for the issuance of detention orders. Until then, everyone will remain in custody.
Both businessmen were remanded in custody
Armed police officers were in the courtroom and in a process that preceded it, during which the two well-known businessmen, 47 and 43 years old, who were arrested as part of the investigations into the unprecedented case of shooting in the center of Larnaca, were remanded in custody for four days.
The two are suspected of interfering in a court proceeding and conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor. In addition, the 47-year-old is suspected of illegal possession of property, after €103.915 and 42 cheques, which he stated are receipts from his businesses, were found at his company's offices.
According to the Police, examinations will be carried out through financial institutions to determine whether the 47-year-old holds accounts, while examinations will also be carried out through the Social Insurance Services and Income Tax.
The lawyer of the two businessmen, Antonis Demetriou, speaking on Omega's midday show, stressed that his clients are not connected to factions. "Possibly all that is being done is an effort by the Police due to the pressure they feel from the citizens," he added.
It is recalled that the 48-year-old with Cypriot citizenship, allegedly the head of a criminal organization, as well as five foreigners, are in custody for the shooting case. Three more foreigners are wanted in the case.
* * * * * *
The Police continued its targeted preventive operations in all provinces last night, with an enhanced presence in key points of urban areas and the aim of preventing serious criminal acts, protecting citizens and ensuring public order.
As part of these operations, members of the Police located and arrested two persons. In Nicosia, a 30-year-old man was arrested against whom an arrest warrant was pending, while members of the Traffic Headquarters arrested a driver who was found driving under the influence of alcohol was arrested for a flagrante delicto.
During the night, more than 570 vehicles were stopped for inspection, while more than 710 persons in them were checked. At the same time, 35 inspections of premises were carried out, with the aim of preventing and suppressing delinquent behavior. During the inspections of the premises, a complaint emerged for a violation regarding their operating licenses.
From the traffic checks carried out, 136 complaints related to various traffic violations emerged, including 32 for driving under the influence of alcohol. The total number of alcohol tests on vehicle drivers exceeded 510. At the same time, as part of the investigation of traffic offenses, seven vehicles were detained.
These operations are part of a broad, continuous and strengthened preventive plan of the Police, with an increased police presence, targeted controls and immediate operational action in all provinces, with the aim of preventing crime and strengthening the sense of security of citizens.
* * * * * *
An unprecedented decision on the Cypriot situation was recently issued by the Court of Labour Disputes that convened in Paphos. He vindicated a female firefighter who complained about discrimination she suffered in her Service due to gender and awarded her compensation plus interest since 2014.
It is the first time that compensation has been awarded in favour of a firefighter for discrimination based on gender, while in the decision of the three judges, important remarks are recorded about members of the Fire Service and the way they testified before him. Specifically, the Court, after a hearing, held that the Applicant, who had been a firefighter since 2009 and served in Paphos, suffered direct discrimination on the basis of her gender, first, for her lack of training in the new firefighting vehicles of Paphos airport during the period from the end of October 2015 to the beginning of January 2018 and second, by providing her with special airport firefighting boots in a size larger than the one she wears throughout the period she served at the Paphos Airport Fire Station.
The Applicant was appointed on 6/4/2009 to the Police and on 27/7/2009 she was transferred to the Fire Service. She had been assigned to the Paphos Fire Station and for a period of three years and three months she performed her work duties at the Paphos Airport Fire Station. In an application in 2018 to the Labour Court, she claims €50,000 in compensation for her discriminatory treatment in her employment. The firefighter had claimed, through her lawyer E. Korakidis, that from the beginning of her employment in the Fire Brigade, she faced and is facing violent, oppressive and intimidating behaviour of a specific Sergeant colleague of hers who was and still receives favour, protection and coverage from her District supervisor. That he was moved to Paphos airport without the approval of the Chief of Police or the director of the Fire Brigade and that he was burdened with 8,640 kilometers of additional travel costs and for which the Paphos District Authority did not take care to be compensated. In fact, he had denounced these two members of the Paphos Fire Brigade where disciplinary proceedings were initiated against them, they were identified as disciplinary for one who was eventually acquitted.
One of the issues raised and accepted by the Court was that upon her transfer to the fire station of Paphos airport, she was given special firefighting boots three sizes larger than her own, i.e. 42 while she wore 39. As a result, she suffered. It was also put before the Court and it was also accepted that while she was at Paphos airport she did not receive training in the new type of firefighting vehicles compared to her male colleagues, while she had previously been trained in the old type of vehicles and held a relevant fire truck driving license.
On the part of the Attorney General, it was argued that there was no discrimination against her on the basis of gender and that her requests were registered beyond the 12 months provided for by law.
It was also argued that the present dispute relates to the service relationship between an employee and a public authority and therefore does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Labour Court. The judges, after analyzing extensively all the testimony submitted before them about the incidents complained about by the applicant, as well as the current legislation on gender discrimination, ruled that there is no specific allegation of a generally negative and hostile environment in the Paphos Fire Station due to her gender and/or towards female firefighters. They rejected all of her claims, but found that the firefighter suffered direct discrimination based on her gender by not being trained in the new airport firefighting vehicles and by providing her with special airport firefighting boots in a size larger than the one she wore.
€10,000 compensation
"Therefore, Judges E. Konstantinou, presiding judge and S. Delitsikou and M. Filippidis, members, state that the only damages we can award to the Applicant for damages caused to her as a result of the direct discrimination she suffered on the basis of her gender are those that cover the moral damage she suffered. In the light of the legal principles and the circumstances surrounding the direct discrimination suffered by the Applicant on the basis of her gender by not being trained in the new airport firefighting vehicles and by providing her with special airport firefighting boots in a size larger than the one she wore throughout the period she served at the airport, the nature of each less favourable treatment it suffered and the time it lasted and the fact that nothing was done to resolve these issues, are awarded: Compensation of €6,000 for its non-training in the new airport firefighting vehicles and €4,000 for the provision of special airport firefighting boots in a size larger than the one she wears".
