Pafos Press 27 May 2026
The Paphos Permanent Criminal Court today imposed a 15-year prison sentence on a 35-year-old man, following a trial of a case of attempted murder, which was committed in April 2025, in the Paphos district.
According to the case, on the morning of April 14, 2025, while two women, aged 33 and 24, were working in a pharmacy in the Paphos district, they were attacked by the 35-year-old.
The two women were injured in the attack, resulting in the 33-year-old being hospitalized at the Paphos General Hospital. The 24-year-old also visited the General Hospital and after receiving treatment, was discharged on the same day.
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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, ten persons were arrested for various offenses, such as, among others, illegal entry into property, possession of burglary tools, possession of drugs, assault on a police officer, possession of an offensive instrument, carrying a knife, as well as driving under the influence of alcohol.
As part of these operations, during the night, 510 vehicles were stopped for inspection and 639 persons on board were checked. At the same time, 39 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, 375 complaints were made, concerning various traffic violations, while nine (9) investigated cases of traffic violations also emerged. As part of the police examinations, eight (8) vehicles were detained.
Of the complaints made for traffic violations, 117 complaints for exceeding the speed limit stand out. Also, five (5) drivers were reported for driving under the influence of alcohol, while two (2) cases of driving under the influence of drugs emerged, after positive preliminary drug tests. For driving under the influence of alcohol, 70 vehicle driver checks were carried out, while for driving under the influence of drugs, four (4) driver checks were carried out.
Policing operations, for the prevention and suppression of crime, continue daily, with an enhanced police presence, targeted controls and immediate operational action, with the aim of protecting citizens and ensuring public order.
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The Police are investigating a complaint about an attack against three persons from Israel, after an incident that took place early in the afternoon in the center of Nicosia.
According to the first information, one of the three persons was injured in the ear.
To facilitate the investigations, two persons were transferred to the Nicosia Police Department.
On the instructions of Nicolas Ioannidis, the asylum status of the two perpetrators, who had attacked three Israelis in the walled city of Nicosia, is immediately removed.
The Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection, asked by philenews to comment on the incident, reiterated that such behaviors are not tolerated and that the Government's policy in such incidents is very strict.
"Those foreigners who do not respect the country that hosts them, by demonstrating delinquent behavior, will have consequences and their asylum status will be revoked," Mr. Ioannidis stressed.
The attack and injury of the three Israelis in the center of Nicosia took place yesterday, in broad daylight and in plain sight.
According to police information, the three Israelis complained that they were attacked while they were in the walled city by two people. In fact, one of the Israelis seems to have been injured in the ear.
Now, all procedures will be initiated to remove from the two the status they maintained until today, while the procedures for their repatriation to their country of origin will also be promoted.
Despite the fact that the father and brother withdrew their complaints and stated that they did not wish to testify against him, the Court of Appeal ruled that the accused of attempted arson, threats and harassment should remain behind bars, considering that no new substantive data emerged to justify his release. Therefore, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Nicosia District Court to continue his detention until the next hearing on June 4, 2026, rejecting the appeal he had filed against his detention.
The appellant faces seven charges, which relate to two offences of attempted arson, three counts of threatening and two counts of harassment, with his father and brother complaining. The offences were allegedly committed on March 21, 2026.
During the initial proceedings on March 26, 2026, the Prosecution had requested the detention of the accused until the trial, citing a risk of evading justice and a risk of re-offending. His criminal record was brought before the Court, which includes a previous conviction of three and a half years in prison for serious offences, as well as two pending cases of a similar nature.
The defense had placed particular emphasis on the fact that both the father and brother of the accused withdrew their complaints and stated that they did not wish to testify against him. It was argued that, as a result of this development, the likelihood of conviction was now extremely weak, and there was no risk of committing new offences either.
The Court of First Instance had ruled that, despite the withdrawal of the complaints, the evidence still created a possibility of conviction, clarifying that at the stage of examining the detention there is no in-depth assessment of the credibility of the testimony nor a final judgment on the merits of the case.
In his appeal, the accused claimed that new data emerged, as the two complainants have now submitted affidavits in which they officially withdraw their complaints. The defense also argued that a request was expected to be submitted to the Attorney General to suspend the criminal prosecution.
The Court of Appeal, however, held that the affidavits did not constitute a new differentiating element, since their content was already known and had been brought before the Court during the first detention procedure through additional testimonies of the complainants. According to the decision, the only new element was the time extension until the next hearing, which, however, was not considered excessive or capable of overturning the previous judgment on the necessity of detention.
The three-member Court of Appeal, consisting of Judges M. Abizas, St. Christodoulidou-Messiou and I. Stylianidou, underlined that after an initial and final detention decision, the Court only examines whether substantial new data have emerged that justify a differentiation of the previous judgment.
In conclusion, the Court of Appeal ruled that the first instance decision was correct and reasoned and rejected the sole ground of appeal of an "unfair and unreasonable decision", maintaining the detention order of the accused in force.
With the help of a citizen who noticed him and informed the Police, a 35-year-old man was located and then arrested for the spontaneous offenses of illegal entry into property in Limassol, as well as for the possession of burglary tools during the night.
Specifically, shortly before 02:00, this morning, a citizen contacted the Police and reported that an unknown, suspicious person was wandering in the yard of an adjacent house. Members of the Police immediately went to the area and located the 35-year-old in the yard of a residence. In a subsequent search of the 35-year-old's bag, various burglary tools were found, for which he did not give satisfactory explanations.
The members of the Police proceeded to arrest the 35-year-old for self-inflicted offenses, while he is expected to appear before a court within the day for immediate registration and trial of the case.
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The Customs Department found a large amount of cash and checks in two different cases where they even found cash hidden even in socks.
On 21/5/2026, officials of the Customs Department, as part of the usual checks they carry out for the implementation of the Green Line Regulation at the Agios Dometios crossing point, proceeded to check a passing rental vehicle driven by an Israeli national, where they found a large amount of cash and checks.
Specifically, during the physical check carried out on the vehicle, €29,300 in cash, €100 and €200 banknotes, as well as 39 Israeli bank checks with a total value of 1,903,500 Israeli Shekels (approximately the equivalent value of €569,000) were found.
The person involved, after being questioned by the officials, stated that they do not come from the occupied territories and admitted that he brought them with him from Israel, but without declaring them at Larnaca Airport upon his arrival.
For this reason, the officials of the Customs Department proceeded to confiscate both cash and checks. The case is being further handled and investigated by the Investigation Sector of the Customs Office.
On 24/5/2026, officials of the Customs Department at Paphos Airport, after evaluating information received from members of YKAN, proceeded to check the luggage of a passenger with Ukrainian citizenship, who arrived from Dublin, Ireland.
During the radiodiagnostic examination of his luggage, further suspicions were created about its contents and a physical check followed. During the physical check, a large amount of cash cash with a total value of €199,950 was found, which were carefully hidden inside 13 socks, placed inside shoes.
Due to the failure of the passenger to declare these cash upon arrival, the officers proceeded to confiscate the entire above amount. The case is being further handled and investigated by the Investigation Sector of the Customs Office.
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The Court of Appeal rejected the appeal of a man who had been convicted by the Paphos District Court of a series of serious offences involving firearms, explosives, shooting in a residential area, injuring an animal and threatening, upholding the ten-month prison sentence imposed on him.
The appellant had been found guilty of possession and transportation of firearms without permission from the Chief of Police, as well as possession, transportation and use of explosives without the required license. At the same time, he had been convicted of shooting in a residential area, injuring an animal and threatening. The court of first instance had imposed concurrent prison sentences, with a maximum sentence of ten months.
He personally registered his appeal, listing the word "innocent" as the only reason for appeal. However, as stated in the decision of the Court of Appeal, despite the previous instructions of the Court, he never submitted reasoned grounds of appeal or a speech chart.
During the proceedings before the Court of Appeal, it was found that the appellant was aware of both the date of the hearing of the appeal and the subsequent hearing, however he did not appear before the Court, nor was he represented by a lawyer.
The three-member Court of Appeal, consisting of Judges M. Abizas, St. Christodoulidou-Messiou and I. Stylianidou, pointed out that, according to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law, each notice of appeal must fully set out the reasons on which it is based, so that it is clear what error is attributed to the court of first instance and why this is considered legally erroneous.
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With a forged power of attorney, he illegally sold an apartment worth hundreds of thousands of euros in Germasogeia, collected €185,000 and attempted to overturn his conviction, but the Court of Appeal ruled that organized fraud and the route of money undoubtedly led to his guilt, leaving in force the seven-year prison sentence imposed on him at first instance. The appellant had appealed against both his conviction and the sentence imposed on him.
The case concerned an apartment in Limassol belonging to three women from Saudi Arabia, who had inherited it from a relative. According to the findings of the Limassol Criminal Court, the appellant, who is a man of Bulgarian origin, used a forged general power of attorney, which was presented as signed by the owners, to proceed with a sale agreement and transfer of the property to a company.
The Criminal Court had found him guilty of drawing up a forged document, circulation of a forged document, fraudulent transaction in real estate belonging to another person and money laundering. For most of the charges, he was sentenced to concurrent prison sentences of seven years, while for the fraudulent transaction a sentence of four years.
During the appeal hearing, the defense challenged the first-instance court's assessment of the testimony, arguing that there were gaps in the factual testimony and that it was not sufficiently proven that the defendant was the one who fabricated the forged power of attorney.
The Court of Appeal, however, reiterated the jurisprudential principle that it rarely interferes with the assessment of the credibility of witnesses by a court of first instance, unless the findings are arbitrary or not supported by the testimony.
Particular reference was made to the testimony of the graphologist of the case, who had testified that the signatures on the power of attorney did not belong to the real owners of the apartment. Although it was not possible to directly link the appellant to the forged signatures, the expert had identified indications of an attempt to falsify writing in the samples given by the accused himself to the Police.
The Court of Appeal rejected the claim that the graphologist's testimony was insufficient due to the lack of presentation of comparative tables, holding that the explanations given during his oral testimony adequately covered his methodology and conclusions.
The fact that the three owners testified that they never signed the power of attorney, nor did they know the accused personally, was also considered decisive. The Court also gave weight to a statement by the then defense attorney during the trial, according to which the defendant stated that none of the women who testified in court were the person who, as he initially claimed, he had met in a café in Limassol to sign the power of attorney.
The decision notes that the factual testimony, examined as a whole, inevitably led to the conclusion that the accused had drawn up the forged document and had organized the transfer of the apartment, without there being any other logical explanation of the facts.
The Court of Appeal also rejected the allegations of incomplete police investigation, ruling that it was not proven that the accused was placed at a disadvantage vis-à-vis the Prosecuting Authority.
Regarding the sentence, the Court ruled that it was not manifestly excessive, pointing out that the defendant's action was characterized by planning, deceit and economic exploitation of both the real owners and the buyer of the property, who, according to the testimony, paid a total of €185,000.
The judges also underlined that offenses of a financial nature are on the rise and that the courts must contribute to their crackdown through severe penalties. They noted that the appellant already had a criminal record and that he committed the offenses while he was in a period of suspension of a previous prison sentence given to him by presidential pardon.
In conclusion, the three-member Court of Appeal, consisting of Judges St. Stavrou, A. Koni and M. Papadopoulou, ruled that both the conviction and the sentences were fully justified and dismissed the appeal in its entirety.
The Court of Appeal underlined that the mere mention of the word "innocent" is not sufficient to establish an appeal, nor does it allow the Court to examine specific errors or legal issues that might justify interference in the first-instance decision.
Although the judges took into account that the appellant had registered the appeal himself, they held that this could not cover the absence of reasoned reasons and specific allegations against the conviction.
As a result, the Court of Appeal concluded that there was no reason to interfere with the first-instance judgment and dismissed the appeal, fully upholding the conviction and sentences imposed by the Paphos District Court.
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The Permanent Criminal Court of Limassol imposed an immediate prison sentence today on the two defendants, aged 45 and 53, who pleaded guilty to the charges they faced. This is a case of extortion of money from unsuspecting landowners, with false promises of quick compensation and sale of properties in the occupied territories, mainly in the province of Famagusta.
The decision of the Criminal Court was unanimous, while for the 45-year-old defendant, two other criminal cases pending before the Limassol District Court were taken into account.
The Criminal Court imposed a 3-year prison sentence on the charges of obtaining the proceeds of illegal activities and a 6-year prison sentence on the charges of money laundering.
The Court sentenced the 53-year-old to 12 months in prison without parole. The sentences will count from the day they were on trial.
Specifically, the 45-year-old admitted 16 charges, including 12 for securing goods with false representations and four for money laundering. The 53-year-old admitted two charges related to fraud. The offenses, according to the indictment, were committed during the period 2023–2025.
The Criminal Court underlined the seriousness of the offenses committed by the accused, noting that these are financial crimes related to deception of victims, while stressing that similar offenses are on the rise.
As stated in the decision, the 45-year-old showed systematic and methodical behaviour, extorting thousands of euros from the complainants. It convinced its victims that it was acting in their favour, creating a series of false and fabricated scenarios, in order to secure their trust and convince them to proceed with the sale of their properties in the occupied territories.
The Court also referred to the exploitation of the trust of the victims, talking about coldness in the behaviour of the 45-year-old and about repeated action with a strong element of deceit.
The Criminal Court focused in particular on the role and behaviour of the 45-year-old accused.
As for the 53-year-old, she extorted an amount of up to €4.000.
To mitigate the sentence, the admission of the charges, their apology and remorse were taken into account. In fact, the 53-year-old paid compensation of €1.500, while she expressed her intention to repay the remaining amount of €2.500 after her release.
The complainants, most of whom are related to each other, exceed 20 in number, while the two defendants extorted a total amount of money exceeding €300,000.
The promises they made to the complainants concerned either compensation through the so-called "Compensation Committee", or procedures for the sale of their properties. The victims said in their complaints that they paid money either in cash or through the online platform Revolut, for alleged costs of valuations and sales processes.
The 45-year-old, according to the complaints, presented herself as a lawyer with connections in the occupied territories, while the second defendant claimed that she had contacts with a Greek Cypriot investor, who bought properties in the occupied areas.
According to the complaints, the 45-year-old repeatedly requested sums of money for assessments and procedural costs, which the victims paid either in cash or via Revolut.
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A case of attack against two persons and theft of a motorcycle, which was committed this morning hours, is being investigated by the Limassol Police Department.
Specifically, it was reported today in the morning hours by a 30-year-old, that while he was driving around 1:00 in the morning, a motorcycle with a passenger also aged 30, on Angelos Vlachou Street in Limassol, an unknown car approached them and then stopped their course. From the vehicle in question, three people disembarked with their faces covered with hoods, who then attacked the two 30-year-olds, causing them to flee. The perpetrators then stole the motorcycle and left the place in an unknown direction.
Members of the TAE Limassol were called to the scene and carried out on-site examinations, while as for the stolen motorcycle, it was found a few hours later in a park in Limassol.
The TAE Limassol continues the examinations.
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A serious incident of injury to a foreigner occurred during a major operation of the Larnaca Aliens and Immigration Service in the FILANDA apartment building.
The foreigner, in his attempt to avoid arrest, according to the first information, jumped from a balcony on the second floor, as a result of which he found himself in the void and was injured.An ambulance transported him to Larnaca hospital and his health condition remains unknown so far.
