Filenews 14 March 2026
The presence and action of the Police last night was intense, throughout Cyprus, with organized patrols in key points of urban areas, with the aim of preventing serious criminal acts, ensuring public order and increasing the sense of security of the public.
As part of these operations, during the night, 916 vehicles were stopped for inspection and1,231 persons on board were checked. At the same time, 38 inspections of premises were carried out, with the aim of dealing with phenomena of delinquency, from which nine complaints emerged.
During traffic checks carried out, 492 complaints were made, concerning various traffic violations, of which 33 driver complaints for driving under the influence of alcohol stand out. A total of 341 alcohol checks were carried out. Also, as part of the police examinations, ten vehicles were detained.
Coordinated policing operations, for the prevention and suppression of crime, continue daily, with an increased/enhanced police presence, targeted controls and immediate operational action, with the aim of increasing the sense of security of citizens/protecting citizens and ensuring public order.
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Clear references to legal measures against the Republic of Cyprus are left by the lawyers of the couple who were detained for 16 days on suspicion of terrorism offenses.
The reason for the lawyers Michalis Kazakos and Nikos Koromias, who undertook the legal representation of the 28-year-old Azeri and the 27-year-old Estonian from the moment they were arrested on February 26.
In a written statement, they leave clear spikes for the handling of the Police, stating that such incidents damage the image of Cyprus as a tourist destination.
They also point out that the fact that they were detained for such a long time without anything reprehensible against them should be a cause for concern. They conclude, stating that "our customers reserve all their legal rights".
It should be recalled that, as Filenews had revealed last Saturday, information cited by the Police brought the couple to photograph points of Israeli interests in Paphos.
At the same time, they presented the 28-year-old as an agent of Iran who was recruited by the Revolutionary Guards.
The full text of the announcement of the couple's lawyers:
"In the wake of what has recently come to light regarding the couple - whom we represent - who were detained due to their terrorist activity attributed by the Police, we wish to point out the following important things.
Our clients, after being detained for 16 days - including the day of their arrest - were released at the end of the police investigation, as it became clear that they were not involved in what the current Legislation prohibits.
The fact that two tourists were detained for the mentioned period of time, without anything reprehensible coming to light, should, at the very least, cause concern.
At the same time, the fact that incidents of this kind also affect the image of our country as a safe and hospitable tourist destination cannot be ignored. The Republic of Cyprus is and must remain a state governed by the rule of law, in which respect for fundamental rights and, in particular, personal freedom is a non-negotiable principle.
This is communicated exclusively for the information of the public. In addition, our customers reserve all their legal rights."
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The Police arrested an 18-year-old man, in connection with a case of robbery, which, according to the data under investigation, was committed last Wednesday, March 11, in the province of Famagusta, with the victim being a 20-year-old man.
The 18-year-old was arrested this afternoon, by members of the Famagusta Police Department, by virtue of a court warrant, issued on the basis of testimony that emerged during the investigation of the case. He was taken into custody, with the TAE of Famagusta continuing the examinations.
This is the second arrest of a suspect in connection with the case, after the arrest of a 17-year-old yesterday, also under a court warrant. The 17-year-old was brought before the Famagusta District Court this morning, which approved a relevant request from the Police and issued a detention order, lasting seven days, for the purpose of investigating the case.
According to the data under investigation and the complaint submitted to the Police by the 20-year-old, on March 11, shortly after 6.30 in the afternoon, while he was in a square in the Ayia Napa area, two unknown persons approached him and under the threat of a knife they took his wallet.
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A 26-year-old man was sentenced to prison yesterday, who was found guilty during the trial by the Paphos District Court, of a fatal road collision, which occurred in November, 2023, in the province of Paphos and resulted in the death of Goga Partsvania, 33, formerly from Georgia.
After the District Court examined the testimony collected by the Police and presented before it by the Prosecuting Authority, it found the 26-year-old guilty of the charges he faced, causing death due to a reckless, reckless or dangerous act, and leaving the scene of an accident, without assistance. The Court imposed on the 26-year-old corresponding prison sentences of 12 months and 14 months, with both prison sentences concurrent.
The 26-year-old was also sentenced to deprivation of his driver's license, for a period of 12 months, while eight penalty points were also imposed on his driver's license.
The fatal road collision occurred shortly after midnight, on November 05, 2023, on Ikarou Street in Paphos, where 33-year-old Goga Partsvania was crossing the road on foot and was hit by a passing car, whose driver then left the scene, leaving his vehicle at the scene.
Members of the Police, as well as an ambulance crew, went to the scene, which transported the 33-year-old to Paphos General Hospital, where a doctor pronounced him dead.
Around 2.15 am, the 26-year-old appeared at the scene, where members of the Paphos Traffic Police were conducting examinations and reported that he was the driver of the car. After a court warrant was issued for his arrest, he was arrested by the members of the Police and taken into custody.
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Anxiety for the residents in the Limassol area, as they seem to have been caught in the eye of burglars.
As reported by a Police officer to filenews, last night there were burglaries and thefts in the Panthea area.
The owners of the houses reported the crime, while the stolen property has not yet been determined.
The case is being investigated by the burglary team of the Limassol TAE, with the investigations continuing.
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A fight took place on Friday night in the area of Agia Fyla in Limassol, resulting in the arrest of a young person.
According to the Police, around 21:35 information was received about an incident outside a house in the area. The patrol supervisor as well as members of the Limassol Police Department immediately rushed to the scene for examinations.
Preliminary examinations at the scene revealed that a group of young people allegedly forcibly entered a house where foreigners live, attempting to attack them.
The occupants of the house reacted, managing to push the young people out of the house, while immobilizing one of the persons allegedly involved in the incident.
While trying to re-enter the house, the young people damaged two windows of the house.
Before the arrival of the Police at the scene, the rest of the persons fled.
An arrest warrant was obtained for the case against a 20-year-old man from Nicosia, who was arrested and taken into custody to facilitate police examinations.
Police investigations continue to identify the other persons allegedly involved in the incident.
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Cy Mail
The supreme court has ordered the release of an asylum seeker who had been held in custody for six months, stating that the Cypriot authorities had not undertaken due diligence to ensure his deportation during that time.
The man, a Cameroonian national, had first applied for asylum in 2019, and this application was rejected in 2024.
He was then arrested on July 3 last year on suspicion of residing in Cyprus without the requisite residence documents, with a deportation order having been issued on the same day.
Then, on July 20, he filed a new application for asylum, which the authorities agreed to examine, before a new detention order was put out in his name on August 21. His second application was then rejected in September, and he filed an appeal to the international protection administrative court thereafter.
That court procedure remains pending.
The supreme court found that the first evaluation of the man’s detention was carried out two months after he was arrested, and that this period of time was adequately “short and compatible with the spirit of the legislation”.
However, it stated, the lawfulness of detention in these cases is also linked to whether the authorities act with due diligence to achieve their ostensible objective – in this case, deporting the man.
It stated that as such, “administrative procedures must be carried out with due diligence and without undue delay”, but that in this case, “it has not been demonstrated that substantial steps have been taken in this direction”.
“It has not been apparent that the competent authorities are taking any action in the meantime with the aim of deporting him as soon as it becomes permissible,” it said, before adding that the Cypriot authorities’ justification for the man’s continued detention is “entirely general, vague, and unsubstantiated”.
To this end, it pointed out that given the circumstances, there was a risk that the man could remain in detention indefinitely.
“Given the lack of determination of a timeframe for the progress and completion of the appeal and the inaction of the authorities regarding taking steps to enable the deportation of the applicant, if the requested warrant was not issued, the applicant will continue to be detained for a further, unspecified period of time,” it stated.
As such, he has now been released from custody, with his appeal against his deportation pending.
