Filenews 20 April 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 a result of the preventive policing operations, 12 persons were arrested, for offenses such as burglary and theft, causing injury and carrying a knife, illegal stay, assault on a police officer, illegal possession of property, illegal possession of drugs, carrying a knife and causing concern.
As part of these operations, during the night, 741 drivers and passengers were stopped and checked.
At the same time, 41 inspections of premises were carried out, with the aim of dealing with phenomena of delinquency.
During traffic checks carried out, 341 complaints were made, concerning various traffic violations, while 11 investigated cases of traffic violations also emerged.
Of the complaints made, 212 complaints from drivers for exceeding the speed limit and four (4) for driving under the influence of drugs stand out.
As part of the police examinations, 8 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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The case of sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl in Limassol is shocking, with the events surrounding her reminiscent of a movie script. The minor, who gave birth to a healthy baby, claims that the child's conception resulted from rape.
The shocking case led to the arrest of a 19-year-old foreigner, against whom offenses related to sexual abuse of a minor and rape are being investigated. On Sunday morning (19/4) the suspect appeared before the Limassol District Court, which ordered his pre-trial detention for five days, in order to complete the investigations of the case.
On November 5, 2025, the 14-year-old was taken to the Limassol hospital in unbearable pain. During the examination at First Aid, it was found that the minor was 34 weeks pregnant. The doctors immediately proceeded with the delivery, and then informed the Police. All the prescribed procedures for an immediate investigation of the case were immediately mobilized.
The 14-year-old, after being discharged from the Hospital, was taken to the "Children's House", where she initially claimed that she did not know who the child's father was. She then stated that the child came from rape, giving some minimal descriptions.
In January 2026, in a new interview, the minor gave a new version of events, saying that the incident happened near a kiosk in her neighbourhood, where she was approached by an unknown Syrian. Then, as he claims, he took her to a secluded place in Limassol, where he raped her.
Some tests followed and the minor, according to our information, was asked to give a new interview, where she gave more details about the case. In her testimony, she stated that she was in a park near her home with another minor when a man approached, who drove her to his car.
Initially, his behavior was friendly to her, however, then he locked the car doors, took her to a secluded area, and offered her an energy drink and later a cookie. The minor, after consuming them, does not remember exactly what happened. However, she later realized that he had had sexual intercourse with her. After all three interviews of the minor, the investigators of the case proceeded to thorough investigations and examinations, concluding the identification of the 19-year-old suspect.
The young suspect is being investigated for the offenses of sexual abuse of a minor, rape, kidnapping for the purpose of hidden and unjust restraint, threat and carrying a knife.
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Classes started late on Monday at the Polis Chrysochous High School as unknown persons proceeded to sabotage, blocking the locks in more than ten classrooms, placing wood and toothpicks inside, with the president of the Polis Chrysochous School Board Pavlos Charalambous stating that a study for the installation of a security camera system has already been completed, With the announcement of offers expected next week.
As Mr. Charalambous mentioned, the mobilization of the Polis Chrysochous School Board was immediate, with its officials intervening on the spot in order to replace the damaged locks. With the assistance of a school conservator, the classrooms were opened and the educational process began with a slight delay, he added.
Mr. Charalambous explained that similar incidents of delinquency are recorded from time to time, especially during periods when schools remain closed. As he noted, he was informed by the High School Principal about the incident, who found that the locks in rooms on the first and second floors had been deliberately blocked.
"We immediately sent staff together with the school maintenance worker so that the classrooms could open and the students could enter," he said.
Mr. Charalambous underlined that the School Board is already taking prevention measures, such as strengthening patrols in school premises. At the same time, he pointed out that the buildings of the three levels of education in the area of Primary, Junior High and High School are located in a single area of large area, which makes their full supervision difficult.
He also placed particular emphasis on the next steps to strengthen security, noting that a study for the installation of a security camera system has already been completed. As he mentioned, "within the next week, the bidding process will be completed, so that the installation of cameras in all three schools can proceed immediately".
"The incident brings back to the fore the issue of the safety of school units, especially during periods when they remain closed, with the authorities being called upon to intensify prevention and protection measures," concluded Mr. Charalambous.
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The Police arrested a 34-year-old resident of the province of Famagusta yesterday, as part of examinations related to the offenses of conspiracy to commit a felony, causing grievous bodily harm and causing actual bodily harm.
Specifically, around 8.40 last night, two persons aged 18 and 30 reported to the Police that, while they were outside their home in the province of Famagusta, they were attacked by a number of people, resulting in their injuries. Members of the Police went to the scene where they located the two complainants and conducted examinations.
The two injured visited the Famagusta General Hospital where the 18-year-old was given first aid and discharged, while the 30-year-old was taken to the Nicosia General Hospital where he is being treated. His condition is considered serious, but out of danger, since he has a subdural hematoma and a displacement of the midline of the head.
During the investigation of the case, testimony emerged against the 34-year-old who was arrested around 9 last night and taken into custody.
The 34-year-old was brought before the Famagusta District Court today, which issued an eight-day detention order.
The TAE of Famagusta continues the exams.
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Cy Mail
A 41-year-old Ukrainian national on Monday pleaded guilty to advertising and promoting the sale of property in the north which prior to 1974 belonged to Greek Cypriots.
The man, named as estate agent Denys Pohodin, advertised properties in the Famagusta district villages of Ayios Sergios, Gastria, and Akanthou, in the Kyrenia district villages of Kalogria and Ayios Amvrosios, and in Trikomo.
He pleaded guilty to 18 of the 36 charges he faces.
The case’s next hearing will take place on May 11, with it expected that the remaining 18 charges will be suspended.
The man had been arrested at Larnaca airport in March last year and has remained in custody ever since.
His guilty plea comes with the Republic of Cyprus having doubled its efforts in recent years to prosecute those whom it accuses of illegally advertising the sale of and erecting building on Greek Cypriot-owned property in the north.
The most high-profile of the three was Israeli property developer Simon Aykut, who was in October last year sentenced to five years in jail after having pled guilty to a total of 40 of the charges he faced related to the development and sale of Greek Cypriot property in the north.
He was sent to Israel last week to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
In May last year, two Hungarian women were sentenced to two and a half years and 15 months in prison respectively after advertising the sale of houses in the north on their social media accounts and websites.
More recently, the Republic of Cyprus failed to secure the extradition of 39-year-old Iranian national Behdad Jafari, who was arrested upon his arrival at Nice airport last year, but then later released after a French court found that given that the European Union’s acquis communautaire is suspended in the north, it cannot be applied there.
A number of cases are ongoing, too, with a German woman who was arrested after having a conversation aboard a flight with Elam member of the European parliament Geadis Geadi in which prosecutors allege that she admitted to selling Greek Cypriot-owned property in the north remaining in custody.
