Pafos Live 31 March 2026
The Police arrested a 20-year-old person today, as part of an investigation into a case of traffic offenses.
Around 6 p.m. yesterday afternoon, information was received about two persons who were moving suspiciously with a vehicle in the area of Paphos. Members of the Police went to the area, where they were approached by a vehicle without registration plates, in which two people were riding.
The members of the Police signalled to the driver of the vehicle to stop for a check, however he developed speed and continued to drive recklessly and dangerously. A chase of the vehicle in question followed, during which warning shots were fired.
The pursued car ended up at a roundabout, where the passenger got off it, while the driver, after entering the opposite direction of traffic, fled in an unknown direction. The passenger of the vehicle, aged 18, was stopped by the members of the Police and taken to a Police Station to facilitate investigations, while an arrest warrant was issued against the 20-year-old driver on the same day.
Around 2:00 this morning, members of the Police during a motorized patrol, spotted the 20-year-old driving the specific car, and signalled him to stop for a check. The 20-year-old developed speed in order to escape, driving again recklessly and dangerously, as a result of which at some point on the road, he lost control of his vehicle and hit a tree and then overturned in a field off the road.
The 20-year-old was arrested and subjected to a preliminary test for driving under the influence of drugs with a positive indication, and was then transported by ambulance to Paphos General Hospital, where he was detained for treatment. A case was registered against the 20-year-old today before the Paphos District Court, for the traffic offenses he committed.
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Filenews
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 a result of the preventive policing operations, five persons were arrested for various offenses, such as, among others, theft, burglary, violence in the family, as well as refusal to provide a sample during a driving test of a vehicle under the influence of drugs.
As part of these operations, during the night, 481 vehicles were stopped for inspection and 563 persons on board were checked. At the same time, 31 inspections of premises were carried out, with the aim of dealing with phenomena of delinquency.
During traffic checks carried out, 271 complaints were made, concerning various traffic violations, while 21 investigated cases of traffic violations also emerged. As part of the police examinations, 8 vehicles were detained.
Of the complaints made about traffic violations, 109 complaints for exceeding the speed limit stand out. For driving under the influence of alcohol, 59 vehicle driver checks were carried out, during which four (4) complaints were made, while for driving under the influence of drugs, 23 driver checks were carried out, with six (6) positive preliminary results.
Coordinated policing operations, for the prevention and suppression of crime, continue daily, with an enhanced police presence, targeted controls and immediate operational action, in order to protect citizens and ensure public order.
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The Paphos Permanent Criminal Court today imposed 10-year prison sentences on a 24-year-old man, after a trial of a drug trafficking case, involving a quantity of cannabis weighing 16 kilograms, confiscated by the Anti-Drug Service - YKAN, in June, 2025, in Paphos.
After the Permanent Criminal Court examined the testimony collected by the Police and presented before it by the Prosecuting Authority, it found the 24-year-old guilty of the offenses of illegal importation, and illegal possession for the purpose of supplying another person, the quantity of cannabis weighing 16 kilograms and 03 grams and imposed corresponding, concurrent prison sentences of 10 years on him.
The large amount of cannabis, with a gross weight of 16 kilograms and 776 grams, was found in the possession of the 24-year-old, during the inspection to which he was subjected by officials of the Customs Department, in collaboration with members of YKAN, on June 10, 2025, at Paphos airport, where he had arrived, on a flight from another European country.
The members of the Police proceeded to arrest the 24-year-old and confiscate the drugs, which from the laboratory tests carried out, it was found to be a quantity of cannabis with a net weight of 16 kilograms and 03 grams.
The case had been investigated by YKAN (Paphos District Echelon).
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The Larnaca District Court today imposed a two-year prison sentence on a 19-year-old man, following a robbery case committed in March, 2025, in Larnaca.
The robbery was committed on March 29, when around 3.30 in the morning, three persons entered a kiosk in Larnaca, having their faces covered with hoods and after threatening the 25-year-old employee at the premises, stole the cash register.
During the investigation of the case, a member of the Police identified one of the perpetrators as the 19-year-old. An arrest warrant was issued against him, pursuant to which he was arrested and taken into custody, on the basis of successive court orders, which were issued by the Larnaca District Court on March 30 and April 05.
On April 09, the Police proceeded to register the case before the Larnaca District Court, for trial, with the 19-year-old remaining in custody, as an undertrial and his detention time counted in the prison sentence imposed on him.
The case was investigated by the Larnaca Police Department.
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The Police in Limassol arrested two persons, aged 56 and 50, in connection with the arson of a car committed in the early hours of March 25 in the area of Pottery.
The two suspects were arrested on the basis of court warrants and taken into custody, following testimony that emerged during the examinations of members of the Limassol Police Department. It is recalled that, around 5:50 a.m. on the morning of March 25, a fire broke out in a rental vehicle in Limassol.
The fire was extinguished by the Fire Service, however it caused extensive damage to the vehicle.
The examinations revealed that the fire was set maliciously.
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The Limassol Police Department was put on alert after a clash that took place between two groups of Iranians in the area of the coastal front.
According to information from filenews, the incident unfolded in two different places, on the beach and on the coastal pedestrian street.
Members of the Police rushed to the scene for on-site examinations and investigations, while closed surveillance circuits that may have recorded the movements of those involved are expected to be examined.
Testimonies spoke of shootings. During the searches, two shell casings were found in one scene, as well as traces of blood.
The clash was reportedly caused by disagreements related to the regime in Iran.
Three people were injured in the incident, who were taken to a hospital for medical examinations and treatment. Two of them had blood on their faces.
Update - The Police are investigating an attempted murder in connection with the fierce fight between two groups that took place on Monday night in the coastal area of Limassol.
It is recalled that three people were taken injured to the hospital, where they are being held for treatment. One of the injured has gunshot wounds to the legs.
As Filenews is informed, in addition to the person who received the two shots, his other two compatriots have serious head injuries, which were caused by a crowbar. To date six people have been arrested.
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The Police are running and not arriving on Monday night (30/3) in Limassol, as serious episodes of vandalism, nuisance and causing fires on central arteries of the city are underway.
According to information from filenews, dozens of young people riding motorcycles are causing a disturbance in various areas, lighting fires and throwing firecrackers.
Police and Fire Service forces have rushed to the scene to deal with the incidents.
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Shots were fired in the early hours of Tuesday in a bar in Germasogeia, Limassol district.
According to information, the property belongs to the 40-year-old Russian businessman, who was again the target of criminal actions.
It should be noted that examinations are expected this morning.
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A large number of tax-free tobacco products were found in a vehicle after a chase in Lympia by members of MMAD.
Specifically, around 3.45 a.m. Today, a MMAD patrol located a suspicious vehicle in the area of Lympia. A signal was given to the driver to stop for a check. The driver developed speed and a chase ensued. The vehicle crashed into Police vehicles. Warning shots were fired to stop him.
After it was stopped, it was found that there was a large number of tax-free tobacco products inside the vehicle.
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The Metropolitan of Morphou will again be in the dock for the events of 2021 in the midst of the coronavirus. The Court of Appeal today accepted the appeal of the Attorney General, annulled the acquittal decision of the Court of First Instance and ordered the retrial of the case by another Court.
Five years later, Morphou Neophytos will find himself in the dock again for the same case, with the Court finding errors in the decision of the Court of First Instance, which had not even prima facie found a case against the Metropolitan. Morphou Neophytou was acquitted in 2023 of four charges related to the violation of the Infectious Diseases Law for gatherings of more than two people, as well as incitement to commit a criminal offense.
The Attorney General appealed against this decision and today the Court of Appeal, in the presence of the Metropolitan of Morphou, issued its decision, putting him back in the dock for events of 2021.
The three judges of the Court of Appeal rejected the position of the defense under Nicos Clerides, according to which the appeal ends up being abusive, since, if successful, it could lead to a retrial after five years. Furthermore, it was suggested that it is not permissible for the Attorney General to raise the issue of a proper evaluation of testimony on the part of the Court of First Instance, on the basis of which he concluded that it was a permissible practice of religious worship.
According to the Court of Appeal, it appears that the case concerns serious offenses in the sense that they allegedly concerned actions of a person in the position of the respondent, for serious public health issues. "At a time, at a time, when every citizen was being tested in the context of the peculiarities of the pandemic, under the data of the present case as set out above, we would consider that the interest of justice would require the retrial of the case without the time that has elapsed since the alleged commission of the offenses being judged that, under the circumstances of the present, exceeds the reasonable time for ascertaining the possible criminal liability of the respondent", the Court of Appeal observes.
The Court repeated the text read by the Metropolitan of Morphou on 2/1/2021, where he called the faithful to the Blessing on the Day of Epiphany in the Clarios River, finding that in their entirety, the evidence put before the Court of First Instance, as recorded by it, is considered to allow the Court of First Instance to take a contrary view regarding the charges.
It is further the finding of the Court of Appeal, that the legal analysis of the Court of First Instance regarding the basis of the charges is not considered correct either. "We have not identified the basis of the reasoning on the basis of which the Court of First Instance determined that the activity concerned in the present case fell within the scope of religious worship. Of course, even in such a case, we consider it a mistake for the first instance judgment not to take a similar action under Article 83 of the Criminal Procedure Law, Cap. 155. In such a case, no adverse effect appears to have arisen in view of what the respondent was contesting, which was the constitutionality and validity of the decrees in question. Hence on the facts, at the stage of establishing a prima facie case, the defense did not make a suggestion that a prima facie case against the respondent was not proven," the three judges conclude.
Following these findings, the Court ruled that the prosecution had prima facie substantiated a case against the respondent, who should be called upon to present his defense, after his rights had been explained to him. Considering that the interest of justice and its proper administration, in this case is achieved by a retrial order, our order will be similar. In the end, a retrial of the case was ordered by another judge of the Nicosia District Court as soon as possible.
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The case of the 44-year-old Azeri with a British passport, who was arrested last summer in Limassol and accused of spying for Iran, is international in international dimensions.
Through his lawyer Efstathios Efstathiou, he appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). His appeal, as we are informed, has been registered and assigned a case number.
The 44-year-old, whose case occupied the British prosecuting authorities and the English media, was arrested on June 21 on the basis of information from a cooperating foreign service.
This information brought him to carry out espionage acts and photograph the "Andreas Papandreou" air base in Paphos, as well as the British Akrotiri Bases. In fact, a case has been registered against him at the Limassol Criminal Court and he is accused of felonies of terrorism and espionage.
Legal basis
The appeal submitted to the international judicial body by Efstathios Efstathiou on behalf of his client is based precisely on this point. That is, the fact that the Cypriot prosecuting authorities had initial information from a foreign intelligence service before arresting him and that the judicial bodies that were called to deal with the case did not adequately examine, according to the position of the Azeros, this parameter.
As "F" is in a position to know, in the appeal to the ECtHR it is stated that the Police, when they had brought the 44-year-old, in the context of a request for his detention, had stated that they had secured classified information from a foreign service that brought the suspect to maintain contacts with members of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), to have information in relation to military installations in Cyprus and to plan a terrorist attack.
The position of the accused is that this information was not disclosed to him, just as it was not disclosed to the Court either. As explained, its origin has not been documented, it has not been explained whether it comes from a Member State of the European Union or from a third country, nor has evidence been submitted to show whether it was lawful to collect, process and transmit it.
In fact, in his appeal, Mr. Efstathiou notes that the Police put forward the position that the aforementioned information was confirmed by physical surveillance of the Azeri and recording of his activities. These activities, however, are characterized by his lawyer as common and everyday.
Legal remedies in Cyprus
In the appeal, Mr. Efstathiou refers to his attempt to issue a decree of annulment through the Supreme Court, which, according to the positions of the Cypriot lawyer, did not examine the request of the Azeri to verify the origin and legality of the information.
Efstathios Efstathiou also refers to an Appeal submitted by requesting the Supreme Court to submit a preliminary question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the compatibility of issuing decrees based on information that has not been verified and comes from an unknown foreign service. As Mr. Efstathiou notes, the appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court, without making reference to his request for a preliminary question to the CJEU.
The lawyer of the 44-year-old Azero, in his appeal to the ECtHR, mentions six points, which, as he claims, demonstrate that his client's rights were violated, citing specific articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
British request
We remind you that the British authorities had shown direct interest in the case. They had submitted a request to the respective authorities of Cyprus through a mechanism of Eurojust for the establishment of a joint investigation team of the case.
After all, the arrest of a 28-year-old Azeri and a 27-year-old Estonian woman on February 26 was initially associated with the 44-year-old in the present case. The Cyprus Police had also invoked in this case confidential information from a cooperating foreign service that brought the 28-year-old and the 44-year-old client of Mr. Efstathiou to have the same "operator" in Iran. In the end, the 28-year-old and the 27-year-old were deported from Cyprus.
These are not the only cases of terrorism linked to the Revolutionary Guards by the prosecuting authorities. Indicative is the case of 42-year-old Orhan Asadov, who was arrested more than four years ago at the swimming pool of Agios Andreas in Nicosia for a terrorism case (allegedly planning the murder of five people from Israel) and deported from Cyprus. He was arrested in September 2021 and was later detained as a prisoner. On November 21, 2025, he was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison. The process of his repatriation followed.
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The Police arrested four persons, three men aged 33, 30 and 26 and a woman aged 33, after a coordinated operation carried out by the Nicosia Police Department, in the context of investigating cases of burglary and theft, committed in recent days, in the province of Nicosia.
Specifically, the members of the Nicosia Police Department located shortly before 12.00 yesterday afternoon and stopped for a check, a 33-year-old man who was traveling by car, in an area in the province of Nicosia. The 33-year-old was wanted, after an arrest warrant had been issued against him, in relation to six investigated cases of building burglary, theft, illegal entry into property, causing malicious damage to property, and conspiracy to commit a felony, offenses committed in the period between 09 and 28 March, in buildings under construction in the province of Nicosia.
The members of the Police proceeded to arrest the 33-year-old, pursuant to the court warrant, and then, at his residence, they located and proceeded to arrest a 33-year-old woman, who was also wanted in connection with the six investigated cases.
In the residence and car of the 33-year-old, members of the Police found a large number of objects, such as electrical and other professional tools, scales, and cables, which, according to the data under investigation, are stolen property. When interrogated, the 33-year-old suspect admitted both the six cases for which a court warrant had been issued for his arrest, as well as two more cases of a similar nature.
Continuing the investigations yesterday, the members of the Police located around 8.30 pm, in an area in Nicosia, a 30-year-old man, against whom an arrest warrant had also been issued, in relation to the cases under investigation. The 30-year-old was riding in a car driven by a 26-year-old man who developed speed, driving the vehicle to escape, however the members of the Police followed and stopped the vehicle of the two suspects and proceeded to arrest the 30-year-old, pursuant to the court warrant.
In a search of the 30-year-old's residence, a number of construction tools were also found, while he pointed out to the members of the Police, a place in an area in Nicosia, where a bag containing tools was found hidden.
The 26-year-old driver of the car was also arrested, for the self-inflicted crime of illegal possession of property, after in a search of his vehicle, the members of the Police found a number of tools, for the possession of which he did not give sufficient explanations.
The four suspects were taken into custody, with the Burglary Squad of the Nicosia Police Department continuing the examinations.
