Filenews 4 June 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, six people were arrested, for various offenses, including burglary and theft.
During the night, 480 vehicles were stopped for inspection and 628 drivers and passengers were checked. At the same time, 37 inspections of premises were carried out, from which four complaints emerged.
During traffic checks carried out, 326 complaints were made about various traffic violations, of which 120 concern driving at excessive speed. A total of 61 alcohol tests were carried out, without a positive result. Also, as part of the police examinations, eight vehicles were detained.
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.
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The fire in Aradippou that broke out in a vehicle and affected two others is ultimately due to a malicious act.
According to information from Filenews from the Police, after examinations at the scene by members of the Force and the Fire Service, flammable material was found. The motives of the perpetrator and perpetrators remain, so far, unknown, while the 65-year-old owner of the vehicle will be called to testify to state if he has specific suspicions.
The fire was noticed around one in the morning. It initially started from the 65-year-old's vehicle that was parked outside his house in Aradippou.
The vehicle in question was completely destroyed, while damage was also caused to two other vehicles of a 66-year-old and a 36-year-old woman, who are his relatives. The fire was extinguished by members of the Fire Service, while the scene remained cordoned off until the completion of the investigations.
The case is being investigated by Aradippou Station and the Larnaca Police Department, members of which are looking for testimonies from neighbours, but also from closed surveillance circuits.
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The Police arrested four people yesterday, to facilitate investigations into investigated cases of burglary and theft between March and June, 2026, in the provinces of Famagusta, Paphos and Limassol.
Specifically, members of the Police, located after information from a citizen, two 49-year-olds who were previously seen inside a house in Ayia Napa. After an investigation was carried out, jewellery and collector's coins were found in their possession for which they did not give satisfactory explanations as to the legality of their possession and they were arrested for the self-inflicted crime of illegal possession of property. In the context of the investigation of this case, it was found that the objects in question were stolen from the house in which the two suspects were previously seen. The TAE of Famagusta continues the exams.
In Paphos, members of the Police yesterday arrested a second person, in connection with investigated cases of burglary and theft. Specifically, a 43-year-old man was arrested yesterday on the basis of a court warrant and is expected to appear within the day before the Paphos District Court, for the issuance of a detention order. The Paphos TAE continues the examinations.
Finally, shortly after noon yesterday in the province of Larnaca, a second person was arrested to facilitate investigations into investigated cases of burglary and theft, which took place in Limassol on 26/6/2026. This is a 26-year-old woman who was taken into custody and is expected to appear today before the Limassol District Court, for the issuance of a detention order.
The examinations continue at the Pissouri Police Station.
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The Police arrested a 24-year-old man, as part of an investigation into a car arson case.
According to the data under investigation, around 2.40 a.m. on 26/05/2026, a fire broke out in a vehicle parked outside the house of its 34-year-old owner, in the area of Nicosia. The vehicle was completely destroyed by the fire, while examinations carried out revealed that it was a malicious act.
The 24-year-old was arrested yesterday at noon with a court arrest warrant, while he is expected to appear today before the Nicosia District Court, for the issuance of a detention order.
The TAE of Nicosia continues the examinations.
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The Court of Appeal, in its decision dated May 29, 2026, rejected the appeal of a 26-year-old convicted in a case of trafficking a large quantity of drugs and upheld the 14-year prison sentence imposed on him by the Limassol Permanent Criminal Court.
The case concerned two persons who admitted charges of conspiracy to commit a felony, illegal possession of cannabis and possession of cannabis for the purpose of supplying to other persons. The offenses were committed around the beginning of 2023 in Limassol and were revealed after an operation by YKAN.
During the searches carried out in the apartment, warehouse and vehicle, a total of 25.8 kilograms of cannabis and 6.46 kilograms of cannabis resin were found, i.e. more than 32 kilograms of narcotic substances in total. The two defendants admitted the charges before the Criminal Court, which sentenced each to 14 years in prison for possession for the purpose of supply.
The appellant, who was the second defendant in the case, raised three main grounds of appeal. He argued that the Criminal Court did not sufficiently distinguish his own role from that of his co-accused, as the drugs were found in the apartment and warehouse of the first accused, that he did not give due weight to his young age when determining the sentence and that the 14-year prison sentence was manifestly excessive.
The Court of Appeal, however, held that the conclusions of the court of first instance were fully justified by the facts of the case. As stated in the decision, "it appears that, with the significant contribution and participation of defendants 1 and 2, who acted with the ultimate goal of obtaining personal benefit, an organized plan was put in place for the illegal storage and processing of the aforementioned large quantity of cannabis".
At the same time, he pointed out that "the convicted person was not found in the case by chance, but was aware of the nature and extent of the illegal activity". In addition, the decision refers to statements attributed to him during the investigations, which revealed knowledge of the existence of large quantities of drugs and their storage.
With regard to the young age argument, the Court of Appeal found that the Criminal Court had already taken into account this factor, as well as other personal information of the convicted person. However, he underlined that in cases of large-scale drug trafficking "the need for the imposition of strict penalties, of a deterrent nature, precisely because of the disastrous results that this criminal behaviour entails, is paramount".
At the same time, the Court of Appeal, referring to relevant case law, noted that "the impoverishment of the victims, but also the loss of lives, especially young people, requires the drastic intervention and participation of the judiciary in the universal effort to stop the modern scourge of drugs".
The Court of Appeal rejected all three grounds of appeal, holding that the Criminal Court correctly assessed the facts of the case and all mitigating factors. In conclusion, he stated that the sentence of 14 years "is not only not manifestly excessive, but it is also lenient", taking into account the particularly large amount of drugs and the role played by the appellant in the case.
Therefore, the appeal was dismissed and the first-instance sentence was upheld in its entirety.
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Various prison sentences were imposed on Wednesday 3/6, by the Limassol Criminal Court on four persons of Nigerian origin, who were found guilty, after their admission, of offenses related to the sexual exploitation of an adult, the exploitation of a prostitute, money laundering and other related offenses. The case concerned the action of an organized ring that took advantage of the vulnerable position of a Nigerian woman for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Cyprus. The persons convicted had different degrees of involvement and participation in the illegal activities of the ring.
According to the reasoning of the Court, the dominant element of the case was the existence of an organized ring of trafficking and exploitation of persons, with the element of pre-planning obvious. The ring numbered about 200 members and operated in both the free and occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus, a fact that was judged as an aggravating factor when determining the sentence.
According to a statement from the Criminal Court, defendant 1, aged 33, and defendant 2, aged 32, admitted charges of sexual exploitation of an adult, exploitation of a prostitute, money laundering and running a brothel. In addition, defendant 1 admitted to a charge of withholding personal documents, while defendant 2 charged with theft and common assault.
Defendant 3, aged 28, admitted, together with defendants 1 and 2, the charge of sexual exploitation of an adult, while defendant 4, aged 47, admitted, together with defendants 1 and 2, the charge of exploitation of a prostitute.
The Criminal Court imposed various prison sentences on defendants 1 and 2, with the heaviest being five years for the charge of sexual exploitation of an adult, while defendant 3 was sentenced to 18 months in prison and defendant 4 to nine months in prison.
The decision emphasizes that in the present case the dominant element is the existence of an organized ring of trafficking and exploitation of persons, with the element of pre-planning evident. The ring numbered about 200 members, with action in both the free and occupied areas. This element alone is an aggravating factor in the determination of the sentence, in accordance with article 13 of Law 60(I)/2014.
In particular, defendant 1 contacted the complainant and, after the complainant sent her some photos of herself at her request, the issuance of a Nigerian passport and a plane ticket for her travel to Cyprus was arranged. During the above communication, defendant 1 gave instructions to the complainant regarding her receipt and transport to the free areas.
As soon as defendant 1 met the complainant, she received her passport so that the latter could not escape, while the very next day he bought sensual clothes and underwear for her, which he asked her to wear in order to photograph and videotape her in order to use sensual photos to create relevant posts on a specific website. The clients contacted defendant 1 to arrange an appointment, who collected the money from the services offered by the complainant and determined the latter's fee. The complainant was under the control and escort of defendant 1, who, in addition to her passport, received the foreigner's registration card, the Nigerian sim card of her mobile phone and deleted the WhatsApp application from it. In the same context, he repeatedly threatened the Complainant that if she did not do what she told her, she would give instructions to third parties to rape and beat her, as well as that her family in Nigeria would suffer harm. Defendant 2 acted in a similar way to Defendant 1.
He took advantage of the complainant's vulnerable position and posted ads on an online platform with photos related to the erotic services offered by the complainant, while during the month of February 2023 he received an amount of €1000 from them. In addition to the fact that for a period of one month, defendant 2 was designated as the "supervisor" of the complainant, she took her mobile phone and all her personal belongings including her clothing items without the will of the complainant, thus committing the crime of theft. Furthermore, defendant 2, being in a position of power over the complainant, who under the circumstances described above was in a vulnerable position, slapped her, while she had previously been subjected to coercion (see a. 11(a), (c) and (f) of Law 115(I)/2021).
With the above act, defendant 2 further damaged the personality and dignity of the complainant. Finally, defendant 2 asked by phone from third parties to visit the complainant in order to have sexual contact with her and then beat her. Although, as stated in the decision, defendants 1 and 2 were not the masterminds of the whole operation, nevertheless their role and action cannot be described as limited at all. It is further noted that the role and degree of participation of defendant 1 was more serious than that of defendant 2 due to the extent and longer period of her involvement in what is attributed to her but also the fact that she was the one who withheld the legal documents of the complainant. However, given the cooperation of Defendant 1 with the Police, an element that is a serious mitigating factor, it was decided that the amount of the sentence to be imposed on Defendants 1 and 2 in the charges they face together should be the same.
The involvement of defendants 3 and 4 was different and more limited in such a way as to justify the differentiation in the amount of the sentence to be imposed on them. On the one hand, Defendant 3 provided, in essence, assistance to Defendant 1 in obtaining access to the electronic platform but also in creating and posting advertisements regarding the services provided by the complainant, paying the relevant fee. For these services he was paid from the profits of prostitution, while in some cases, he collected money from the Complainant knowing that she was a victim of sexual exploitation. Defendant 4 acted as a driver and transported the Complainant to a specific premises from where defendant 1 would pick her up for the purpose of prostitution, receiving remuneration from the profits of prostitution of the complainant.
For the benefit of the defendants, their personal and family circumstances, their admission and their clean criminal record were taken into account. In relation to defendant 1, her cooperation with the Police was particularly taken into account, since she gave important information to the Police regarding the person who gave her relevant instructions, as well as information that led to the identification of defendant 2 and defendant 4, while she also referred to the role of defendant 3.
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The Supreme Court, exercising its appellate jurisdiction, rejected the appeal of a man, who faces serious accusations of a sexual nature before the Paphos Criminal Court, upholding the decision to continue his detention until the start of the hearing.
The accused faces a total of eight charges concerning, among others, rape, sexual harassment, indecent assault, corruption of a woman with an intellectual or mental disability, psychological violence and harassment. The offenses were allegedly committed on August 9, 2025.
According to the facts of the case, the accused was brought to trial in August 2025 and has been in custody ever since. During the proceedings, postponements arose related to legal aid issues, a change of defence counsel and the delivery of the witness material, while the start of the trial was finally set for 15 June 2026.
In his appeal, the defendant argued that the continuation of his detention was unjustified, arguing that new evidence significantly weakened the complainant's testimony and, by extension, the possibility of his conviction. Among other things, he cited the absence of his genetic material from specific parts of the complainant's body, as well as alleged contradictions in her testimonies regarding the circumstances of the incident.
The Court of Appeal held that the Criminal Court examined the evidence put before it, but did not proceed to an assessment of the credibility of the complainant, which is the subject of the main proceedings. As noted in the decision, at the stage of examining detention, the question is whether the witness material, in its appearance, is still sufficient to support the possibility of conviction and the consequent risk of escape.
The appellate judges found that the arguments of the defense essentially asked the Criminal Court to assess the credibility of the complainant before the hearing of the case, which is not allowed at this stage of the proceedings. They also considered that the evidence relied on by the defence did not make her testimony substantially contradictory or weaken the prosecution's case to such an extent.
Regarding the duration of detention, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Criminal Court acted within the limits of its discretion. He noted that the hearing date was set based on the court's schedule and the need to conduct the trial in a reasonable time, while avoiding an excessive burden on the court schedule.
In conclusion, the Court of Appeal ruled that there was no error in the first-instance approach nor any reason to interfere with the decision to continue the detention. Therefore, it dismissed the appeal in its entirety and upheld the decision of the Paphos Criminal Court.
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The occupying "authorities" arrested a 77-year-old Greek Cypriot when he tried to cross the Ledra Street roadblock into the occupied territories, about a month after a reported theft of a mobile phone in a casino in Nicosia.
According to today's print "Halkin Sesi", the 77-year-old allegedly took a mobile phone from another person in a casino within the walls of Nicosia on May 4. The incident was recorded by security cameras and an arrest warrant was issued against him, however he was not located as he had returned to the free areas.
Upon his return to the occupied territories on June 1, he was located and arrested by the "police". According to what was reported before a "court", he allegedly admitted the act, stating that he left the phone in his vehicle, and then a relative handed it over to the authorities.
As mentioned, the 77-year-old does not maintain a "legal status" in the occupied territories and his "detention" was ordered for a period of no more than seven days, until the completion of the process.
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The case of twin brothers and former partners, who were led to a legal dispute, was referred to the Limassol Permanent Criminal Court, following a complaint that one, together with his wife, allegedly extorted illegal amounts of money for more than 15 years, with the total amount reaching half a million euros.
The case, as philenews wrote in a previous report, was reported in 2023 by the complainant, who is the twin brother of the 67-year-old accused. After two years of investigations and examinations by the Financial Crime Investigation Office of the Limassol Police Department, which included an audit of the company's bank movements and accounting books, the investigators proceeded in November 2025 to arrest the 67-year-old and his wife. The two were interrogated in writing and then released, while the investigation of the case continued until the completion of the examinations.
On 3 June, the couple was brought to Justice, where the case was referred for trial before the Limassol Permanent Criminal Court and set for a hearing in early July. According to the facts of the case, one brother allegedly took advantage of the joint bank account he maintained with his brother, extracting with the help of his 61-year-old wife, who was a bank employee, large sums of money almost every day, without the knowledge of the complainant, with the total amount reaching €500.000.
The two defendants face charges of extortion, fraud, forgery, conspiracy to commit a felony, money laundering, fraud, registration of false information in official documents, impersonation and circulation of a forged document, among others. The couple was released under restrictive conditions imposed by the Court, namely to sign bail, register their details on the stop list, report to a police station and hand over their travel documents.
According to the complaint, the two brothers jointly ran a bus company based in Limassol and managed a joint bank account.
