Filenews 5 April 2026
Nine arrests in one night were made by the Police during organized patrols, with the aim of preventing serious criminal acts, ensuring public order and increasing the public's sense of security.
As a result of the preventive policing operations, nine persons were arrested for various offenses, such as, among others, illegal possession of explosives and offensive instruments, illegal possession and supply of drugs, illegal possession of property, illegal stay in the territory of the Republic, as well as driving under the influence of alcohol.
As part of these operations, during the night, 1,168 vehicles were stopped for inspection and 1,408 persons on board were checked. At the same time, 59 inspections of premises were carried out, with the aim of dealing with phenomena of delinquency, from which five complaints emerged.
During traffic checks carried out, 321 complaints were made, concerning various traffic violations, while 19 investigated cases of traffic violations also emerged. As part of the police examinations, 13 vehicles were detained.
Of the complaints made for traffic violations, the 118 complaints for exceeding the speed limit, the 24 complaints for driving under the influence of alcohol, as well as the three cases of driving under the influence of drugs, which arose after preliminary drug tests, stand out. For driving under the influence of alcohol, 576 vehicle driver checks were carried out.
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 Police arrested two persons, aged 16 and 19, in the early hours of this morning, after a stolen vehicle was found on a road in the province of Nicosia, by a Police patrol.
Specifically, around 1.10 a.m. today, members of the MMAD who were on a motorized patrol, spotted a car violating a red traffic light, on Limassol Avenue, in Dali. As established by the registration numbers of the vehicle, it had been reported to the Police as stolen yesterday afternoon.
The members of the Police followed the vehicle, the driver of which was driving recklessly and dangerously, trying to escape. In this attempt, he again violated a red traffic light, while at a point on Megalou Alexandrou Avenue, in Latsia, the driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle, as a result of which it crashed into the railing of the road and came to a standstill. As a result of the impact, no injuries were caused.
As it was found, the driver of the vehicle was a 16-year-old, while a 19-year-old was also in the vehicle. While as it became clear from further examinations, the vehicle was reported to the Police yesterday as stolen. Inside the vehicle, after a relevant search, two knives, a small amount of drugs and an electric grill which appears to be the product of theft, committed yesterday in the Strovolos area, were located and confiscated.
The two were arrested for flagrante delicto offenses and taken into custody to facilitate investigations.
The examinations continue by the Police Stations of Latsia and Strovolos, the YKAN and the Nicosia Traffic Police.
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The Police are investigating a new case of online fraud, following a complaint by a 47-year-old woman. The woman followed instructions to allegedly renew her profile in the General Health System (GESY), as a result of which a large amount of money was stolen from her account.
According to the complaint, on March 29, 2026, the complainant received a text message on her mobile phone, which appeared to come from the GHS. Through the message, she was asked, in English, to renew her profile, otherwise it would be deactivated the next day.
The 47-year-old followed the electronic link included in the message, as a result of which she was taken to a website that resembled the official website of the GHS. There she was asked to enter personal information, as well as the full details of her bank card, allegedly for the purpose of paying a renewal fee.
The next day, the complainant received a phone call from an official of the bank she works with, who informed her of a suspicious transaction in her account. From an inspection that followed, it was found that the amount of €10,000 had been extracted.
The Financial Crime Investigation Branch of the TAE Nicosia continues the examinations.
On the occasion of this case, the Police call on the public to be especially careful in similar messages, as well as in any online transaction. In particular, it is recalled that official organizations do not ask for personal or banking information via SMS or links.
In addition, citizens are invited to:
- Do not follow links received through messages if there is no certainty about their origin.
- Always check the website address (URL), as fraudulent pages often look like official ones.
- Do not register bank card details on websites, which arise through suspicious messages.
- In case they provide such information, contact their bank immediately.
- To inform the Police about similar incidents.
The Police proceeded to arrest three persons, aged 57, 43 and 27, as part of the investigation of a case of assault, injury, and stabbing, which, according to the data under investigation, was committed on March 28, in the province of Limassol, against a 33-year-old man.
Two of the three suspects, a 57-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman, were arrested around 12.00 noon today, pursuant to court warrants issued for the purpose of police examinations.
It was preceded on March 30, by the arrest of a 27-year-old woman, also by virtue of a court warrant. The day after her arrest, the 27-year-old was brought before the Limassol District Court, which approved a relevant request from the Police and issued a detention order, lasting seven days, for the purpose of investigating the case.
The case is being investigated by the Episkopi Police Station.
According to the data under investigation, around 11.30 pm on March 28, while the 33-year-old was moving on foot in an area in Trachoni, the three suspects stopped their car near him and attacked him. According to the 33-year-old's complaint, during the attack on him, the 27-year-old injured him with a knife, while she made threats against him.
The 33-year-old was taken by ambulance to Limassol General Hospital, where it was found that he had a sharp object wound to the abdomen. He was treated and discharged the same night.
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The Court of Appeal decided to overturn a conviction in a case that arose from disputes between neighbours in the village of Linos, accepting the appeal of a man and acquitting him of all the charges he faced.
The appellant had been found guilty in the first instance, after a hearing, of one count of malicious damage and two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm. In his appeal, he challenged the correctness of the first-instance judgment, arguing, among other things, that the offenses were not substantiated, that the Court's conclusions were not consistent with the testimony and that the decision was unreasoned.
The Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision, expressed strong concern about the way the testimony was evaluated by the Court of First Instance. As it is pointed out, the Court of First Instance had characterized key witnesses as unreliable or unconvincing, while for others it found that they did not tell the whole truth. Nevertheless, he proceeded to accept individual elements of their testimony to support his findings.
The Court of Appeal held that such an approach was not permissible in the circumstances, underlining that the admission of part of a witness's testimony presupposes that he has been generally found to be credible. In this case, it is noted that the first instance decision itself had weakened the overall credibility of the witnesses, making any selective use of their words precarious.
Special reference is made to the only witness who was considered credible, who described the incident as a mutual fight, without confirming specific allegations of aggressive behaviour on the part of the appellant towards one of the alleged victims.
In this light, the Court of Appeal concluded that there was no sufficient and reliable testimony before the Court of First Instance to establish, beyond all reasonable doubt, the commission of the offenses. Therefore, it ruled that the findings and the conviction could not stand.
The decision of the Court of Appeal led to the annulment of the first-instance conviction and the full acquittal of the man for the charges he faced.
The Court also noted that, in the light of its conclusion on the credibility of the testimony, it was not necessary to examine the other grounds of appeal that had been raised.
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The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by four citizens, who argued that their constitutional rights are being violated due to unequal treatment in relation to the control of Turkish Cypriot vehicles moving from the occupied territories to the free areas.
The decision upholds the first-instance judgment of the Nicosia District Court, which had dismissed the appellants' action. The latter, refugees since 1974 and permanent residents of the free areas, argued that the Republic allows Turkish Cypriots residing in the occupied territories to circulate their vehicles without being subject to the same technical suitability test (MOT), to which they are subjected.
The case dates back to the period after the opening of the roadblocks in 2003, when the Republic of Cyprus adopted measures that allowed the movement of Turkish Cypriots in vehicles used in the occupied areas. To this end, relevant regulations have been amended, allowing for the granting of provisional conditional marketing authorisations.
As part of the procedure, it was commonly accepted that vehicles entering from the occupied territories are initially subject to visual inspection at the roadblocks by officers of the Department of Road Transport and, if a problem is found, further inspection can be requested. On the contrary, the vehicles of Greek Cypriots residing in the free areas are required to undergo a full technical inspection.
The appellants argued that this differentiation constitutes a violation of the principle of equality, as enshrined in the Constitution, as well as a violation of European provisions. The Supreme Court, however, ruled that these are different categories of citizens who are not in the same circumstances.
According to the Court, Turkish Cypriots residing in the occupied territories temporarily go to the free areas and their vehicles are not registered in the registers of the Republic, while the Greek Cypriot residents of the free areas have a permanent presence and full obligation to comply with the national legal framework.
The judgment emphasises that the principle of equality does not impose absolute equation of treatment, but allows for reasonable differentiations where these are based on objective criteria and are proportionate to the objective pursued. In the present case, the different treatment was considered justified, as it is part of a broader policy of managing the peculiar situation that arose after 2003.
The Court also noted that there is a form of inspection of the roadblocks, even if it is not a full technical inspection, and that measures are provided for in cases where obvious infringements are detected.
In conclusion, the Supreme Court held that the differentiation is not arbitrary or violates the principle of proportionality and therefore does not constitute a violation of constitutional rights. The appeal was therefore dismissed in its entirety.
The Court also ruled that, given the nature of the case, each party would be ordered to bear its own costs.
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Cy Mail
A 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of having broken into a house and stolen three bottles of beer from its fridge, the Turkish Cypriot police said on Saturday.
The police said the theft had occurred in October last year, with man having entered the house through its front door, before taking the beer, and making off with it.
A subsequent investigation into the matter led the police to the man, who was arrested at the north’s Ercan (Tymbou) airport on Friday after having returned to the island from a trip abroad.
