Filenews 4 September 2026
The Police in Limassol arrested two persons, aged 19 and 20, yesterday, after a vehicle chase and a series of traffic and criminal offenses.
Specifically, around 10:40 yesterday morning, while members of the Bicycle Policing were carrying out traffic checks in the area of Limassol, they tried to stop a vehicle for inspection, which did not have a registration plate on the front.
The course of the vehicle ended when it collided with a traffic light and stopped. When the vehicle was approached by the members of the Police, the two occupants allegedly attacked them, as a result of which they were arrested for flagrante delicto.
During the investigation that followed, a knife was found in the possession of the 19-year-old driver, resulting in his arrest for the crime of stabbing.
The two arrested were taken into custody for the purpose of investigating the case and are expected to appear tomorrow before the Limassol District Court for the issuance of a detention order.
It is noted that, during the chase, two members of the Police were injured and taken to the Limassol General Hospital, where they were given first aid and discharged.
The Limassol Police Department and the Limassol Traffic Police continue the examinations.
Update - With the handcuffs being worn inside the Limassol Courtroom, in case they try to escape, the two Turkish Cypriot suspects of yesterday's (3/9) episodic chase were detained for a period of 7 days. A total of 12 offenses are being investigated against them, including, conspiracy (felonies & misdemeanors), acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm, malicious damage and various traffic offenses, while the 19-year-old driver was also driving under the influence of drugs.
The facts about how the pursuit of the white van began became known, however the details presented before the Court by the investigator of the TAE Limassol are of particular interest.
According to what is set out in the request for pre-trial detention of the two suspects, from the dangerous driving behaviour of the 19-year-old driver in various parts of the city, he hit parked vehicles and one that was in a waiting stop. In fact, the chase also caused four traffic accidents. During the attempt to stop the vehicle, members of the Police fired warning shots.
It is indicative that, on Omonia Avenue, the driver managed to pass over the dividing island, entered the opposite direction of traffic and turned right, with the chase continuing towards the area of Agios Spyridon. Both suspects threw various objects from the vehicle towards the police officers in order to prevent them from stopping them, such as tools, a car loudspeaker, a car battery and other objects.
They also threw a heavy item which hit the front windscreen of a patrol car and caused damage. The 19-year-old, during the chase, tried to ram members of Group Z with his vehicle, as well as patrol cars.
At some point and while the van was on standby, a member of Team Z who was chasing it tried to enter through the driver's window in order to immobilize it. However, the 19-year-old hit him with his hands, while he started the van, dragging the police officer for a few meters, injuring him.
After stopping the white van at the traffic lights of the Monovolikos Industrial Area the 19-year-old was immobilized and during a search, a black knife was found in his possession. The 20-year-old passenger was then arrested.
The two were taken to the Limassol Police Department, where they underwent a drug test. Before taking a sample, the 19-year-old reported that he "drank crystals", while in a test he was found positive for amphetamines.
It is recalled that the 19-year-old was also arrested on 9/7 for a similar incident with a member of Group Z, where he hit a police officer with his vehicle, in order to escape arrest.
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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 police operations, seven persons were arrested for various offenses such as illegal stay in the Republic of Cyprus, theft and illegal possession of drugs.
As part of these operations, during the night, 516 vehicles were stopped for inspection and 670 persons on board were checked. At the same time, 38 inspections were carried out in premises with the aim of dealing with phenomena of delinquency, during which 3 complaints emerged.
During traffic checks carried out, 319 complaints were made, concerning various traffic violations, while 5 investigated cases of traffic violations also emerged.
Of the complaints made, 79 concerned exceeding the speed limit, while as part of the police examinations, 6 vehicles were detained.
172 alcohol tests were carried out, from which 4 complaints emerged, as well as six preliminary drug tests with one positive result.
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 Police proceeded yesterday to arrest four persons, to facilitate the investigations regarding two investigated cases of theft from a person and assault causing actual bodily harm. These are two 18-year-olds, a 20-year-old and a 22-year-old, against whom a four-day detention order was issued today.
The two cases were reported to the Police by a 30-year-old woman and a 33-year-old woman. According to what the 30-year-old reported, on September 1, 2026, while she was on a street in the province of Famagusta, she was attacked by unknown persons, who stole her bag.
The second case is said to have been committed, around 6.15 a.m. of September 2, 2026, with the victim being the 33-year-old. According to what she reported to the Police, while she was at a bus stop in the province of Famagusta, she was attacked by unknown persons, who allegedly beat her and stole her bag. The 33-year-old was taken to the General Hospital where she was found to have a knee injury. After receiving medical treatment, he was discharged.
In the context of the police investigations, testimony emerged against the above persons, who were arrested on the basis of court warrants. This morning they were brought before the Famagusta District Court, which issued a four-day detention order against them.
The Ayia Napa Police Station is investigating the case.
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With the testimony of three police officers of the Criminal Investigation Service (YPEE), the hearing for the retrial of the much-lauded case with the 15 kilograms of cocaine, for which Giorgos Christodoulou-Zavrantonas is accused, continued today, Thursday (03/09), before the Permanent Criminal Court of Nicosia. These are - possibly the last witnesses to testify under oath. The next proceedings are set for September 11, 2026, at 10:30 a.m., when the lawyers will also make first-sight speeches.
At today's hearing, evidence was presented before the Court, such as CCTV footage, mobile phones and usbs, and from which the three prosecution witnesses extracted data, following a relevant order. The cross-examination of the witnesses by Zavranton's lawyer was particularly harsh, with Christos Poutziouris raising the issue of violating the defendant's right to a fair trial, deleting raw files, while questioning the training of a police officer in the use of specific software to extract data from electronic devices.
The first witness appeared was constable G.M., who serves in the Photography and Graphic Research Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, and examined the footage from the CCTV at the house of Giannis Andreou, known as "Maronas", who was arrested at his home with Aristos Kyprianou and from which the military bag with the drugs was confiscated.
The witness first read the expert report which he prepared after the examination of the evidence and then footage from the closed circuit was shown, with the witness making clarifications in relation to the times when the footage was recorded, after questions were asked by the representative of the Prosecution Authority, Vassilis Bissas.
As the witness claimed, there was no access to the DVR card settings of the surveillance system, as "Maronas" did not provide the code, and, therefore, the exact time when the events took place in the house cannot be determined.
In his cross-examination, Mr. Poutziouris pointed out to the witness that in the files presented there are special names and numbers. Asked if he has conducted an investigation into whether any files are missing, the witness replied in the negative, with the defense lawyer answering that "it seems that files have been deleted".
The second prosecution witness, constable X.X., was an examiner of a forensic laboratory at the time in question and undertook the examination of 10 mobile phones of "Maronas", which, as he said, he received sealed in envelopes. In his testimony, he stated that some of them did not have a mobile phone card installed, while all the data found in the memory of the evidence were copied for the purpose of being checked by the investigator of the case, who in this case was D.X.
The representative of the Prosecution Authority, Vassilis Bissas, called the witness to identify two of the mobile phones, brand iphone 10X and 8, and asked him what the practical process of data extraction is. The witness stated that the evidence is taken, placed on official equipment, data is cloned on the computer and based on them a report is extracted, which is inserted into a USB and given to the investigator.
Asked if he interfered in any way with the data of the presumptions, the witness answered in the negative, explaining that the service equipment that exports the data has only the read only option and not processing.
Zavranton's lawyer criticized the fact that this witness did not testify before the Court the certificates of his expertise, stressing that in the previous proceedings the same thing happened again and that he cannot really know if he is an expert. However, at another point in the proceedings, the witness stated that his training certificate was sent to him on Viber. Mr. Poutziouris asked him to submit it.
The witness clarified that he received his training in 2011, with Zavranonas' lawyer pointing out that from 2011 when he received his training, until 2019 when he did the research, the data extraction software underwent several upgrades. The constable agreed with Mr. Poutziouris, pointing out, however, that the way data is extracted does not change.
In addition, in his cross-examination, Mr. Poutziouris focused on the fact that the raw files of the specific evidence were not kept or given to the Court and the defense. When asked why this was not done, the witness replied that the raw files were of enormous size, there was no space to keep them, nor was he asked to do so. At this point, Mr. Poutziouris said "I submit to you that you have violated the right of the accused to a fair trial because now he cannot confirm the raw data with his own expert". He added, in fact, that all protocols and best practices say that you never delete or throw away raw data, with the witness answering "I don't know about what you say".
The third prosecution witness was M.L., also an examiner in the forensic laboratory, responsible for the collection, handling and examination of electronic evidence. He was the person who analyzed the contents of the usb. He made, he clarified, an exact copy of the content which he stored on a hard drive. Asked by the representative of the Prosecution if he had the possibility to alter the content, Mr. Lemoniatis replied in the negative.
It is recalled that the drugs were located in January 2019 by YKAN in Lakatameia, while for the case Giannis Andreou ("Maronas") and Aristos Kyprianou were sentenced (July 2019) to 16 and 8 years in prison, respectively. However, Andreou named Zavradonas as the mastermind of the case in a new testimony and thus a case was registered against the latter, resulting in his sentence to 22 years in prison (12/12/2022). This decision was overturned on 11/5/2026 by the Court of Appeal due to an error in the composition of the Court of First Instance and a retrial was ordered.
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A case of rape is being investigated by the TAE of Nicosia, following a complaint by a woman.
The woman, who works as a domestic worker, complained that she was raped on a farm in the province of Nicosia where she had gone to work, by a 30-year-old worker who was in the area.
The woman filed a complaint with the Police yesterday, stating that the incident took place last August.
The TAE of Nicosia continues the examinations to investigate the case and locate the 30-year-old.
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Turkish Cypriot media speaks of the pre-trial detention of the 43-year-old, Alexei Sokpa, who is wanted by the Greek authorities for the murder of Vangelis Zampounis.
Based on what the Turkish Cypriot website Kıbrıs Türk Haber records about yesterday's bringing of Sokpa to a pseudo-court, the suspect is liable for offenses related to the so-called "martial law".
From what is recorded in the report and inferred about the "criminal justice system" of the pseudo-state, it appears that a case was registered against the 43-year-old before a "military court" for "Violation of a Military Prohibited Area of the First Degree, Illegal Entry, Abandoning the Territory of the "TRNC" Without Permission from the Competent Authorities and Illegal Residence in the "TRNC"".
As philenews recently wrote, a request was made through the bi-communal group in order for the wanted person to be handed over to the Republic of Cyprus, through the United Nations.
It is not clear the intentions of the "authorities" of the pseudo-state whether they will hand him over to the Republic or whether they will choose to "extradite" him to Turkey.
Sokpa is said to be a member of the "Edik" team, while it is presented in videos published in Greece that he is one of the executors of Zampounis. He had been in the occupied territories since July 31, 2025, while he allegedly used uncontrolled points to cross into the Republic of Cyprus.
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A 25-year-old man was arrested yesterday afternoon on a court warrant and taken into custody, to facilitate investigations into an investigated case of theft from representatives, money laundering and offenses of the Betting Law.
Specifically, 18 persons reported to the Police that, between the dates 15/06/2025 and 01/04/2026, the 25-year-old secured from them a sum of money in excess of €500,000, for investments in cryptocurrencies.
The 25-year-old appeared before a Court today, which issued a detention order for him for seven days.
The Financial Crime Investigation Team of the TAE Nicosia continues the examinations.
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With a unanimous decision today, the Supreme Court accepted the appeal of the family of the two missing persons, Loizos and Giorgos Hadjigeorgiou, set aside the first instance decision that had rejected the lawsuit and issued a decision in favor of the Appellants and against the Republic of Cyprus.
It ruled that the competent authorities had not fulfilled their obligation to effectively investigate the fate of the two missing persons and awarded a total of €100,000 in compensation.
The case concerns Loizos Hatzigeorgiou and his son Giorgos Hatzigeorgiou, who were kidnapped from the village of Strongylos on August 15, 1974 and have been missing ever since. According to the testimonies, the kidnapping was carried out by their Turkish Cypriot fellow villagers and citizens of the Republic of Cyprus at the time.
The Supreme Court found a violation of both Article 2 and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights by the Republic of Cyprus.
It is particularly important that the Court overturned the position of the Court of First Instance that the State's obligation to investigate effectively had not yet been activated because the remains of the missing persons had not been found. The Supreme Court clarified that this obligation arises when a person disappears under conditions dangerous to his life and does not depend on the finding or identification of his body.
The Court also held that this case could not simply be treated as another disappearance in the context of the 1974 hostilities. The two missing were unarmed civilians, who were kidnapped by other armed civilians and not as part of a military operation. This, according to the Supreme Court, created an obligation for a targeted and substantial investigation, including the investigation of possible criminal responsibilities.
The alleged perpetrators are undisturbed in the free areas
At the same time, the Supreme Court found that there was specific evidence and information about persons allegedly involved in the kidnapping and that some of them had even appeared in the free areas without any substantial investigative measures being taken. The Court made an explicit reference to "substantial inaction" on the part of the competent authorities.
The Supreme Court clarified that neither political reasons, nor reasons of public interest, nor the practical difficulties arising from the continued occupation can eliminate the obligation of the Republic to conduct an effective investigation.
He also stressed that the work of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), as important as it is from a humanitarian point of view, does not replace the obligation of the State itself to conduct an effective and independent investigation, capable, where possible, of leading to the identification and attribution of responsibilities to those responsible.
In relation to Article 3 of the ECHR, the Court recognized the many years of anguish, uncertainty and mental anguish of the family and held that the attitude of the authorities and their failure to give meaningful answers about the fate of their own people also constituted a violation of their rights.
A total of €100,000 in damages was awarded: €25,000 to Loizos' wife and mother of Giorgos Hatzigeorgiou and €15,000 to each of the other five Appellants.
What the family's lawyer says
According to the family's lawyer, Antonis Georgiou, this is the first decision at the level of the Supreme Court in Cyprus that clarifies in this way the obligations of the Republic of Cyprus under Articles 2 and 3 of the ECHR in such specific circumstances: When civilians disappear under conditions dangerous to their lives, the Republic is not responsible for the initial abduction, Their remains have not been found, but there is evidence and possibilities for a substantial investigation by the state authorities.
In his opinion, the decision is of wider importance in relation to the Cyprus problem. According to him, it is reasonable to consider that there may be other cases of missing persons in which there is specific testimony about persons who are alleged to have committed criminal offenses or are aware of critical facts. The decision, he continues, now raises with particular clarity the question of what the competent authorities must do when such evidence is before them and confirms that the political dimension of the Cyprus problem cannot by itself set aside the obligation of an effective investigation.
At the same time, according to Mr. Georgiou, "a wider issue inevitably arises as to how such pending cases will be dealt with in the context of any future comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem, especially in cases where there is testimony for specific criminal offenses and specific persons. That is, beyond the humanitarian part of ascertaining the fate of the missing, there remains the separate issue of criminal investigation and possible attribution of responsibilities."
"The most important thing, however, for this particular family is that, after decades, there is now a clear judicial finding that the competent authorities did not fulfill their obligation to effectively investigate the fate of the two missing persons," he concludes.
*Attorney Antonis Georgiou is a partner at the law firm Phoebus, Christos Clerides and LLC Associates.
