Filenews 21 May 2026
The Police arrested a 40-year-old man today, in connection with investigated cases of home burglary, committed in recent days, in the province of Limassol. The 40-year-old was taken into custody, with the Limassol Police Department continuing the examinations.
The 40-year-old was located at noon today and was checked by members of the Limassol Police Department, who were conducting examinations in the Linopetra area, in Limassol, where two residential burglaries were committed earlier in the afternoon. A screwdriver was found in the possession of the 40-year-old, while in a bag he carried, a number of jewellery and perfumes were found, which were then identified as property stolen from the one house that had been broken into.
The members of the Police proceeded to arrest the 40-year-old suspect for a self-inflicted crime, while subsequently, on the basis of evidence that emerged, a court warrant was issued for his arrest, in relation to a total of five cases of residential burglary.
Specifically, the following are being investigated against the 40-year-old:
- two cases of burglary and theft, committed on May 14 in the area of Mesa Geitonia and today, May 20, in Linopetra
- two cases of attempted burglary of houses, committed on May 14 and 15, in the area of Mesa Geitonia and in Germasogeia respectively,
- a case of burglary of a house for the purpose of theft, committed today, May 20, in the area of Linopetra
A case of impersonation and circulation of a forged document is also being investigated against the 40-year-old, since two passports were found in his possession, which bear his photo, however, bear different beneficiary details.
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The Police made two arrests of suspects for two separate cases of rape on Wednesday night, in the province of Famagusta.
Specifically, the first complaint was made by a woman on May 18, with the police securing an arrest warrant and proceeding to arrest a suspect last night.
In the second case, a 20-year-old tourist reported on May 19 that she was raped by an unknown man. According to the complaint, the incident took place on May 16. The investigations revealed evidence against a 23-year-old, resulting in his arrest, also on Wednesday night.
In the meantime, the presence and action of the Police was intense last night, 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 public's sense of security.
As a result of the preventive policing operations, seven persons were arrested for various offenses, such as, among others, rape, illegal possession of property, causing anxiety and drunkenness in a public place, as well as assault on a police officer, illegal stay on the territory of the Republic, as well as driving under the influence of alcohol.
As part of these operations, during the night, 517 vehicles were stopped for inspection and 726 persons on board were checked. At the same time, 35 inspections of premises were carried out, with the aim of dealing with phenomena of delinquency, from which two complaints emerged.
During traffic checks carried out, 352 complaints were made, concerning various traffic violations, while 18 investigated cases of traffic violations also emerged. As part of the police examinations, 12 vehicles were detained.
Of the complaints made about traffic violations, the 85 complaints for exceeding the speed limit stand out. For driving under the influence of alcohol, 100 vehicle driver checks were carried out, during which two (2) driver complaints were made.
Policing operations, for the prevention and suppression of crime, continue every day, with an enhanced police presence, targeted controls and immediate operational action, in order to protect citizens and ensure public order.
Update re rape cases - Within twenty-four hours, the local TAE arrested a 41-year-old Greek Cypriot and a 23-year-old Afghan as suspects of two rapes in the free province of Famagusta. The two will be brought before the Famagusta District Court in Paralimni, for the issuance of detention orders.
The first complaint was made on May 18 by a 23-year-old Greek Cypriot, who complained that she was raped by her 41-year-old partner. The girl stated that she had an affair with the 41-year-old lately and that he had intercourse with her against her will, which led her to file a complaint with the Police. After this development, an arrest warrant was obtained against the 41-year-old, who was arrested last night in a municipal district of the Municipality of Paralimni.
In the second case, a 20-year-old tourist from Sweden reported being raped by a 23-year-old man from Afghanistan, whom she met in a nightclub in Ayia Napa. The girl made the complaint on May 19 to police officers at Larnaca airport, where she rushed in order to leave for her country. Specifically, she stated that on May 16 she met a man in a nightclub in Ayia Napa and then they ended up in her apartment, where her friends were also staying. According to her complaint, this man may have raped her. From the investigations carried out by the TAE of Famagusta, evidence emerged against the 23-year-old, who was also arrested on Wednesday night.
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With the help of a citizen who noticed him and informed the Police, a 21-year-old man was located and then arrested, suspected of burglary of a store, committed last night, in Limassol. With the location of the 21-year-old suspect, the property that had been stolen from the store earlier was also located, while a second burglary of the same store, committed the night before, is being investigated against the suspect.
Specifically, shortly after 11.30 last night, a citizen contacted the Police and reported that a suspicious person broke into a café, in Limassol and then entered an adjacent apartment building. Members of the Police went to the area and found the 21-year-old on the roof of the apartment building, as well as two computers and other objects, which the 21-year-old claimed belonged to him.
After the 21-year-old did not give satisfactory explanations for his presence there and for the possession of the found property and after he also refused to cooperate in verifying his details, the members of the Police proceeded to arrest him for spontaneous offenses.
Examinations followed, from which the burglary of the cafeteria was established, while the property that had been found earlier by the members of the Police was identified as property that had been stolen from the cafeteria during the burglary. Evidence also emerged against the 21-year-old for the burglary of the same café, committed the night before, between May 19 and 20, during which, however, no property seems to have been stolen.
The two cases are being investigated by the TAE Limassol.
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A suspect who was arrested at the illegal airport in occupied Tymbou for carrying four embryos in his luggage was detained for two days.
According to the Kipris post website, the 24-year-old was trying to flee abroad and when the embryos were found in his luggage he was arrested at the illegal airport on charges of violating the "law on the transplantation of human cells, tissues and organs".
The incident took place yesterday and today he was brought before the "district court" of Nicosia which issued a two-day detention order.
As the "court" was told, the embryos were in four separate tubes in a special container marked "Life Pack" and a reference number. The embryos were taken from an IVF center operating in occupied Nicosia, without permission from the competent "authorities". They were seized as evidence.
The "police investigator" of the case testified to the "court" that the suspect voluntarily gave a statement.
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For 24 years he lived in Cyprus under a regime of uncertainty and fear of deportation. Now, the Supreme Court puts an end to his many months of detention, ruling that after 24 years of residence in the country without a realistic prospect of removal, the continued detention of a 60-year-old Iranian national violates the fundamental right to liberty. The Supreme Court therefore ordered the immediate release of the man.
By a decision issued on 18 May 2026, Judge Ioannidis granted an application for a preferential writ of Habeas Corpus, ordering the competent authorities to immediately release the 60-year-old, who was being held in the Menogia detention center.
The applicant had arrived in Cyprus in 2002 through the occupied territories and submitted an application for political asylum, claiming that his life was in danger in Iran. His application was rejected, but since then he has remained in the Republic without being able to be deported.
The extensive decision records the many years of history of the case, which includes repeated arrests for illegal stay, issuance of detention and deportation orders, periods of detention, releases by administrative decisions or court orders, as well as a previous successful Habeas Corpus application in 2025.
The Court noted that the applicant never concealed his true identity or country of origin and that the Authorities knew his details from the very beginning. At the same time, it underlined that he cannot be held responsible for the inability of the Authorities to proceed with his deportation for more than two decades.
The 60-year-old was arrested again in January 2026 for illegal residence and new detention and deportation orders were issued against him. However, the Supreme Court ruled that his continued detention was not justified, since there was no specific plan or immediate prospect of his removal from the country.
The decision noted that the detention of a foreigner for deportation purposes cannot be an end in itself and should only last as long as the removal procedures are being carried out with due diligence. The Court also emphasized that freedom is a “supreme good” in a state governed by the rule of law and that no derogations from fundamental human rights are permitted.
Judge Ioannidis stated that, despite the fact that the applicant has been in Cyprus for 24 years, he still does not have a passport or travel documents, while the competent authorities have not explained what specific actions are expected to ultimately lead to his deportation.
The Court concluded that the applicant has been detained beyond a reasonable period of time, without at this stage there being a realistic prospect of his removal from the Republic. Therefore, it approved the application and ordered his immediate release.
At the same time, costs were awarded in favour of the applicant, while the costs of the interpreter were ordered to be paid by the Republic of Cyprus.
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He was sentenced to prison as one of the parties involved in the scandal with the Paphos landfill and asked for the annulment of the decision of the Municipality of Paphos to dismiss him from the position of financial director.
Specifically, he was sentenced on 7.2.2020 by the Paphos Criminal Court to five years in prison for eight offenses. That is, for the offenses of conspiracy to defraud, defamation of a public official, bribery by a public official, illicit acquisition of property, secondment by a public official, abuse of power, bribery and showing favour by a public official and money laundering.
Due to this conviction, the Municipality of Paphos, in a letter dated 29.9.2022, notified him of its decision to impose the disciplinary penalty of dismissal on him. As a result, he filed an appeal with the Administrative Court requesting the annulment of the Municipality's decision.
According to a decision issued yesterday by Judge Eleni Michael, the applicant was an employee of the respondent Municipality of Paphos in the position of municipal treasurer - financial director. Before the decision to dismiss him as a result of his conviction, the Municipality received a legal opinion from its legal advisor on whether the offenses for which the applicant was convicted involve a lack of honesty or moral obscenity, while it also informed the applicant to submit any representations.
It is noted that the long opinion recorded the finding that the offenses for which the then financial director of the Municipality was convicted involve a lack of honesty. The applicant suggested that the decision to dismiss him was flawed because it was based on a flawed and incomplete legal opinion, because the applicant was deprived of his right to be heard before a legal opinion was obtained, because of a lack of investigation and reasoning and because of a violation of the principle that no one is punished a second time for the same offense and the principle of proportionality.
The Administrative Court ruled, first of all, that the legal opinion given to the Municipality cannot be characterized as incomplete, as long as it identifies the key issues and answers them properly. The applicant's suggestion, that through the disciplinary penalty he was punished twice for the same offense, the judge states, also does not find me in agreement. As explained above, after the final judgment of the applicant's criminal conviction, what the respondent Municipality investigated and did on the basis of its findings was whether the conviction in question resulted in a lack of honesty or moral obscenity, characteristics that cannot accompany an employee serving in a public position. It is not at all the same offense but a possible disclosure through criminal conviction of qualities that are incompatible with the status of a public servant, the Court points out.
Regarding the applicant's suggestion that the adoption of the contested decision violates the principle of proportionality, the Administrative Court notes that the offences for which the applicant was convicted are of exceptional gravity and, as I have mentioned before, are not at all consistent with the status of an employee serving in the public sector. I do not consider that the disciplinary penalty imposed on him was disproportionate to the serious offences – which in fact relate to his work duties – so as to justify the judicial intervention.
Following these findings, the appeal was dismissed, the first instance decision was upheld and the applicant was ordered to pay €2,000 in costs.
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The Police, after cooperation with the Spanish authorities, proceeded to arrest a 31-year-old man, as part of the investigation of a case of internet fraud, extortion of money with false representations, and money laundering.
The 31-year-old was wanted by the authorities of the Republic, who had issued a European arrest warrant against him, after evidence emerged during the investigation by the Famagusta Police Department of the online fraud case.
The evidence against the 31-year-old emerged after examinations carried out in cooperation with the Spanish authorities, to identify the beneficiary of the bank account, in a bank in the European country, where a 62-year-old store owner in Cyprus, after being deceived, sent a large amount of money, more than 14 thousand euros, by remittance, for the purchase of products.
On May 5, the Cyprus Police received information from the Spanish Authorities that the 31-year-old was located in Spain and arrested by the country's Authorities, with the European Court Order. A court procedure followed, during which the Spanish Authorities approved the request for his extradition to Cyprus.
Members of the Police travelled to Spain from where they yesterday accompanied the 31-year-old suspect by air to Cyprus. Upon their arrival at Larnaca Airport, the Police members proceeded to arrest the 31-year-old with a court order.
The case was reported to the Famagusta Police Station in March 2024 by the 62-year-old shop owner, who is based in the Famagusta district.
According to the complaint, in February 2024, the 62-year-old located a retail company based in another European country online and placed an order to purchase products. To pay for the products, the 62-year-old transferred the sum of €14,678 to a bank account in Spain, as instructed in an email communication.
After the money was transferred, their email communication was interrupted, the 62-year-old suspected that he had been defrauded and filed a complaint with the Police.
The Famagusta Commercial Court is continuing its investigations.
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The Police arrested a 35-year-old man, as part of the investigation of a case of attempted arson.
The 35-year-old was located and arrested yesterday by members of the Limassol Police Department, based on an arrest warrant.
The case concerns an attempted arson on a parked vehicle, which occurred on 11/04/2026 in Limassol.
The 35-year-old appeared today before the Limassol District Court, where a detention order was issued against him for a period of five days
The Limassol Police Department is investigating the case.
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A teacher is in custody in the occupied territories, who was arrested in his attempt to escape to Turkey, after serious allegations of sexual harassment of five underage students, aged 14 to 16, at the "Hala Sultan theological school" in occupied Mia Milia.
The president of the Turkish Cypriot trade union of Turkish Cypriot secondary school teachers (KTOEÖS), Ahmet Karaogulari, made statements outside the school about the incident, calling for an immediate, transparent and multifaceted investigation of the case.
As Mr. Karaoullari reported, the students confided in their teachers about the suspect's inappropriate behaviour. The school management then informed the parents and filed a complaint with the police, resulting in the arrest of the teacher last Tuesday.
The president of KTOEÖS sharply criticized the "Ministry of Education" and the office of Turkey's educational adviser for the lack of control over teachers sent from Turkey to the occupied territories under "bilateral agreements". At the same time, he warned that the union will not allow any attempt to cover up the case and demanded the immediate provision of psychological and social support to the victims.
