Filenews 4 February 2026
On 2/2/2026, officials of the Customs Department at Paphos Airport, after evaluating information, proceeded to check the luggage of two departing passengers with British citizenship aged 30 and 22 respectively, bound for Manchester, United Kingdom.
In the 4 luggage of the 2 passengers, a total of 336 boxes of 200 cigarettes each were found (168 boxes in 2 pieces of luggage of each passenger), the packages of which did not bear markings for the harmful to health in the Greek and Turkish languages, an indication that they are duty-free.
The two passengers were arrested for flagrante delicto, while the luggage with its contents was confiscated. Today, Tuesday 3//2026, they were taken to the Paphos District Court, which issued a 4-day detention order to facilitate the investigative work undertaken by the Paphos Customs.
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The Police raided a business in Nicosia.
A coordinated search of a premises in Nicosia, in the presence of the 25-year-old responsible, by virtue of a court warrant, was carried out yesterday morning after evaluating information, members of the Anti-Drug Service, the Branch for Combating Offenses of Theft of Intellectual Property and Illegal Betting, as well as officials of the Pharmaceutical and Health Services.
During the investigation, 14 packages/products containing cannabidiol (CBD), 5 packages/products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 47 packages/products containing dry cannabis-like plant matter as well as 16 handmade cigarettes containing cannabis-like plant matter were found and seized. All found items were received for further scientific examination.
From the Health Services, 15 packages/products were seized in accordance with the Food Control and Quality Law.
YKAN in collaboration with the Agios Dometios Police Station continue the examinations.
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The Larnaca Police are conducting intensive investigations to locate the perpetrator of the kiosk robbery, who left with loot exceeding €1000. The Larnaca Police Department is looking for testimonies from local residents in an attempt to find evidence of the identity of the perpetrator, who is believed to be Cypriot.
The robbery was committed a few minutes before 6 pm in an area adjacent to the municipal district of Livadia. Wearing a hoodie on his head, the perpetrator entered the kiosk and started shouting at the 67-year-old employee: "Give me the rials...". Then, with quick movements, he grabbed about €1,100 from the cash register and disappeared on foot in the dark.
Under the microscope of the Police are videos from closed circuits monitoring the area, in order to see if the perpetrator boarded a vehicle after his escape.
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The dynamic and targeted preventive operations of the Police continued during last night, with an enhanced presence in key points of urban areas, with the aim of preventing serious criminal acts, protecting citizens and ensuring public order.
As part of these operations, the Police proceeded to arrest a total of four persons on a nationwide basis, for cases involving illegal possession of property, burglary and theft, failure to appear in court and violation of court conditions.
During the same night, extensive inspections were also carried out on a number of premises (36), with the aim of preventing and suppressing delinquent behaviour in a timely manner.
As far as the road network is concerned, more than 350 inspections were carried out, which resulted in 129 complaints about traffic offenses, of which 65 concerned exceeding the speed limit.
At the same time, as part of the investigation of traffic offenses, 3 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.
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The Permanent Criminal Court of Larnaca sentenced a 66-year-old and a 48-year-old woman to prison terms of 11 years and two and a half years respectively, after finding them guilty of charges of illegal import and possession of drugs, as well as possession of drugs for the purpose of supply to other persons.
Specifically, the above were arrested on June 7, 2025 at Larnaca Airport when, after a check carried out on their luggage, as part of the actions taken by YKAN in cooperation with the Customs Authorities, approximately 17 kilograms and 600 grams of cannabis were found.
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The Court of Appeal rejected the appeal of a police officer who was sentenced last year to three months in prison after being found guilty by the Nicosia District Court in a case of indecent assault on a colleague.
The constable was facing a total of four charges and through them he was accused that during or around March 2018, he illegally and indecently attacked the complainant, that is, that he touched her in a sensitive place. For the same incident, he faced the charge of sexual harassment, in violation of its articles on Equal Treatment of Men and Women in Employment. She was facing, at the same time, two charges of joint attack against the same complainant on two different dates.
The Court sentenced him to three months in prison on the first charge and one month on each of the other two, while not imposing a sentence on the fourth. According to the facts, as stated in the decision of the Court of First Instance cited by the Court of Appeal, the complainant and the accused registered with the Police at the same time. At the beginning of March 2018, the accused started sending various messages to the complainant's mobile phone, the social media platform "Facebook" and through the "Viber" application. Initially, the complainant responded to his messages, until one day the accused told her that he had fallen in love with her.
This annoyed the complainant, who told him that she no longer wished to have contact with him. Nevertheless, the accused continued to send her various messages, without the complainant responding to them. During the same month, during a break from classes, the complainant went to the classroom at the Cyprus Police Academy to receive some of her personal belongings. There were two constables and the accused in the classroom. After she was heading to the exit, the accused, who was near the exit door, touched her with one hand on his waist and with the other at the same time in a sensitive place. The complainant was surprised and panicked and so did not react at all at the time.
Immediately after, she went to the Academy's canteen, where she met two of her friends and colleagues to whom she reported the incident. She did not make a complaint to the accused at the time, considering the consequences that this would have, both for herself as a new police officer who denounces colleagues, and for the accused. The two were then placed in the same unit and around the end of March 2019 they happened to meet face to face and the accused came from her side and hit her with his elbow. The complainant got angry and shouted and asked the accused to stop bothering and beating her, but he ignored her. The same incident happened on 19/04/2019. Because she now understood that the accused had no intention of stopping bothering her, she made the decision to report him. The above actions of the accused against the complainant are part of a wider harassing behaviour, which lasted from March 2018 until her complaint, the Court had found.
The convict complained that there were contradictions in the testimonies given during the trial and that the sentence should be suspended. The Court of Appeal, after analyzing the testimony, recorded that "we do not find any error, neither in the approach nor in the conclusion of the Court of First Instance. As mentioned above, the Court of First Instance examined everything relevant, comparing the various evidence before it and explained its conclusions. On the basis of the principles explained above, there is no scope for our intervention, since, on the one hand, we do not agree with the reference of the points raised by the appellant as substantial contradictions in the testimony, nor is the final conclusions of the Court on the facts found to be in conflict with common sense or with testimony acceptable to the Court."
It was the conclusion of the Court of Appeal that the seriousness of the offenses concerned by the present case and the necessity of imposing dissuasive penalties are obvious. Offences of this nature offend the victim's personality and must be dealt with as necessary to be prevented. The Court of First Instance rightly attributed importance to the fact that "the offenses were committed by a member of the police force, committed by the Republic with the duty to preserve law and order and to fight crime", as well as to the fact that they were committed against a female colleague of his, while on duty. These were three incidents, despite the complainant's protest against the harassment caused to her by the appellant's actions.
Following these findings, it dismissed the appeals of the complainant and the Advocate General.
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The Court of Appeal decided instead of rehearing a fatal accident case to acquit the convicted driver, after taking into account that the accused had already almost served a sentence of 2,5 years in prison imposed on him.
The case concerned a road collision that occurred on August 24, 2019 on the main road Kantu - Sounio, in which, in addition to serious injuries to passengers, a driver lost his life.
As emphasized in the decision, there was no lighting in this section, with visibility practically limited to the range of the vehicle's headlights, while the visibility conditions also differed due to the curve and inclination of the road.
The Limassol District Court, which heard the case, had found a driver guilty of causing death due to a reckless, reckless or dangerous act and of driving a motor vehicle at a speed that could endanger human life. He sentenced him to 2,5 years in prison from November 24, 2023. The convicted person filed an appeal through the lawyer K. Arkadi for the law office "Marios Hartziotis & Co LLC".
The case was decided in the testimony of two experts who examined the scene of the accident, since none of the drivers involved testified that they perceived anything involving the accused driver, either that he was overtaking or that he was moving at excessive speed.
The Court of Appeal, in a recent decision, pointed out that there was no direct testimony that "shows" the appellant changing lanes, attempting to overtake or driving at increased speed in a way that would be attributed to such behaviour by an eyewitness.
The entire judgment of the Court was based on the testimonies of the expert of the Prosecution Authority and the expert of the defense. The two presented a different version of the sequence of collisions and there was a dispute about the methodology by which the speed of the appellant's vehicle was calculated.
The Court of First Instance, as recorded in the decision of the Court of Appeal, gave weight to the fact that the defense witness (expert) did not visit the scene himself and relied on photographs obtained by a third party and on photographs of the Police.
The Court of Appeal, in its judgment, observed that the first instance decision does not explain in a way that can be verified what part of the actual testimony the defense witness disputed, nor how the fact that it was based on photographs affects the substance and reliability of his conclusions. Simply put, he notes, the reader of the decision cannot clearly see the path of thought that led to the rejection of the defense.
Furthermore, he observes that the claims of the defense witness were not essentially examined side by side with those of the prosecution witness, so that the Court, having two experts who reconstruct (represent) facts after the fact, can weigh and justify why it prefers one version over the other.
"Instead, in the judgment of the Court of Appeal, there was acceptance of one testimony and rejection of the other in a general and vague way, attributing to the defense witness 'speculations', at a time when both sides, de facto, made a reconstruction based on data and not a personal image of the accident."
Finally, it considered that the verdict of the Court of First Instance was insufficient and precarious and stated that under normal circumstances, it would have to be considered whether a retrial or acquittal should be ordered. However, the time that has elapsed with the appellant having already almost served the sentence of 2.5 years imposed on him, the Court of Appeal ruled that there is no question of a retrial and proceeded to acquit him.
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In a unanimous decision, the Limassol Permanent Criminal Court today found the four defendants guilty of the murder of 55-year-old Thanasis Kalogeropoulos, which was committed on October 30, 2023, in a parking lot next to a beach restaurant in Limassol.
The defendants (43-year-old, 46-year-old and 23-year-old) face a total of 11 common charges, while the 24-year-old fourth defendant additionally faces the charge of complicity after committing murder.
The heavy joint indictment includes the offenses of conspiracy to murder, premeditated murder, possession, transportation and use of a category A and B firearm, possession, transportation and use of explosives, as well as arson of a vehicle.
During the hearing, 75 witnesses testified, while some were admitted. At the trial, among other things, 555 documents, testimonies and videos - documents from closed circuits of surveillance of the area where the murder was committed, as well as videos and conversations from the telecommunications data of the accused, were submitted.
As pointed out in the decision of the Criminal Court, the testimony presented by the Prosecution before the Court was incidental and concerned, among other things, closed circuit surveillance, telecommunications data, videos, mobile phones and other related testimony. The decision notes that the Court approached the factual testimony for each defendant individually, emphasizing that it was not contradictory.
It was also pointed out that all the necessary statistical data are met for the establishment of each accusation for each accused, at this stage.
The Criminal Court found the defendants guilty at this stage and called them to apologize.
Specifically, he stated that the three defendants are called to apologize for all charges, (1-10 and 12) while the 24-year-old is called to apologize for the 13th charge.
The defendants, according to their lawyers, will respect the right to silence and do not wish to testify under oath and will call defense witnesses to continue the proceedings. The lawyer of the first defendant noted that he will call an expert in relation to the case.
The hearing of the case was set for the next period.
