Wednesday, October 21, 2026

CRIME ROUND UP

 Pafos Live 21/10



The Police yesterday arrested five men aged 29, 27, 25, 24, and 20, to facilitate investigations into an investigated case of armed robbery committed on October 08, 2026 in Limassol 

The case was reported to the Police by a couple living in Limassol, that around 3 am on 08/10/2026, unknown persons entered their home and after immobilizing them, they stole the sum of €5000 and 1000 US dollars, as well as gold worth  over €100,000. 

As part of the investigation of the case and on the basis of an evaluation of evidence, the Police proceeded to arrest the five persons, while in a search carried out pursuant to a court warrant for a search of the residence where they live in Limassol, clothing and tools were found and received, which seem to have been used in the commission of the offenses. 

The arrested are expected to appear before the Limassol District Court, for the issuance of a detention order. 

The TAE Limassol continues the examinations.

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The Police made two more arrests yesterday, as part of the investigation of a case of kidnapping, injury and causing grievous bodily harm, committed on 16/10/2026 in Limassol, with a 24-year-old victim. 

The case was reported to the Limassol Police Department on October 19, by the 24-year-old, complaining, according to whom, on October 16, while he was in an area in Limassol, he was approached by three people and asked him to enter their car. The 24-year-old did so and the three suspicious persons transported him in their vehicle to another area, where they attacked him. According to the 24-year-old's complaint, one of the three suspects injured him in the leg with a knife. 

The three arrested, after being interrogated, were released without charge, pending the completion of the examinations. 

The TAE Limassol continues the examinations.

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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 police operations, one person was arrested for the offenses such as illegal possession of burglary tools and illegal possession of property.

As part of these operations, during the night, 441 vehicles were stopped for inspection and 552 persons on board were checked. At the same time, inspections were carried out in 35 premises with the aim of dealing with phenomena of delinquency, without complaints arising.

During traffic checks carried out, 247 complaints were made, concerning various traffic violations, while 10 investigated cases of traffic violations also emerged.

Of the complaints made, 43 concerned exceeding the speed limit, while as part of the police examinations, 7 vehicles were detained.

94 alcohol tests were carried out, from which 6 complaints emerged, as well as 6 preliminary drug tests with three positive results.

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The defense today requested the conduct of a "trial within a trial" for a series of documents, electronic files and communications received from the offices of the law firm Andreas Dimitriadis, in the much-praised case of the "golden passports" with the accused former minister Marios Dimitriadis.

Defense attorney Elias Stefanou, who represents Andreas, Dimitris and Giorgos Dimitriadis, Eleni Symillides, Vasiliki Georgiou-Santin and Andreas Demetriades & Co LLC, announced objections in relation to material received during the execution of three warrants at the offices of the law firm.

As he mentioned, the material in question includes electronic communications, a hard drive, computer towers, storage units, mobile phones and document folders. The defense raises issues of violation of legal secrecy and the right to private communication, violation of search and access warrants, as well as relevance of the material to the case.

Mr. Stefanou stated that since February 2026, the Prosecuting Authority had been asked in writing to determine what part of the confiscated material it intends to use. Indicatively, he noted that one of the computer towers contains eight million files. According to the defence, the common factual background, the involvement of the same police officers and the execution of the same warrants allow the objections to be examined in a single trial within a trial.

The spokeswoman of the Prosecution Authority, Haris Karaolidou, replied that the defense had been informed before the start of the hearing about the material that would not be used. He clarified that items 1 to 7 will be used, while items 40, 44, 49 to 57 and 59 to 75 will not be used, according to the numbering of the witness material.

Ms. Karaolidou pointed out, however, that it has not yet been determined in detail which part of each presumption is disputed and for what reason. He said that the examination of the issues could be done in the context of a single trial within a trial, after the objections have been specified, adding that he will review the material for which the issue of relevance is raised.

At the next hearing on November 16, the detailed development of the individual grounds of objection to the presumptions for the conduct of a single trial within a trial is expected, in order to judge the acceptance and utilization of the disputed witness material.

105 items

Before the issue of presumptions was raised, the appearance of the first prosecution witness, Constable A.A. of the TAE Headquarters, continued in her capacity as administrator of the evidence of the case. Another 76 items of evidence were submitted to the court. Together with the 29 items of yesterday's procedure, the total number rose to 105.

The items include, among other things, files of the Ministry of the Interior, material received during police investigations, original sales documents between companies and files of foreign investments. At the same time, it was stated as an admissible fact that the evidence submitted was lawfully received by the places and persons recorded and moved without intervention or alteration, beyond the forensic examinations.

Case history

It is recalled that the case concerns the exceptional naturalizations of 19 investors from Asia. The accused are the former Minister of Transport Marios Dimitriadis and nine other natural and legal persons, who face a total of 84 charges.

The indictment includes, among other things, offences of corruption, hacking, influence peddling, conspiracy to defraud, VAT fraud and money laundering. The former minister is accused of allegedly interfering in the naturalization examination handled by the law office of his father and brothers. Other aspects of the indictment concern the alleged unjustified application of a reduced VAT rate of 5% and the use of fictitious invoices for money transfers.

It is noted that the presumption of innocence applies to all defendants.

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A significant increase in the prison sentence imposed on a man for a case of child pornography and solicitation of minors, the Court of Appeal decided, examining an appeal filed by the Attorney General of the Republic. Specifically, the Court of Appeal imposed an 18-month prison sentence instead of 6 imposed by the court of first instance, however it maintained the suspension of the execution of the sentence due to a 12-year delay.

The case concerns offenses initially committed between May and July 2014, while the final judicial judgment in the second instance was issued in October 2026. The respondent had admitted before the Nicosia District Court a total of 23 charges related to securing and possessing child pornography, as well as inviting children to relevant illegal acts through the creation of a fake profile on a social networking platform.

The material found included varying levels of severity, from simple images to depictions of sexual activity, segregated based on international jurisprudential standards. The court of first instance had initially imposed prison sentences of six months on most of the charges and three months on one of them, even reducing the sentences by 50% due to the excessive delay in the administration of justice, as the registration of the case had been made late in 2018.

The Attorney General's Office challenged the decision, arguing that the sentences were manifestly inadequate and that the execution of the prison sentence was wrongly suspended. The Court of Appeal, in its unanimous decision, stressed that although the general line of penalties for possession of material moved to lenient but legally acceptable definitions due to the mitigation of time, the situation is radically different in category 16.

This charge concerned the active involvement of a 13-year-old boy in illegal acts and sending nude photos through a forged account, which gives the act a huge social and moral disdain. Therefore, the Court of Appeal partially upheld the first ground of appeal and increased the sentence for this charge from 6 to 18 months in prison.

Regarding the part of the suspension of the sentence, the court pointed out that although the first-instance justification was concise, the clean criminal record, the practical admission that demonstrates remorse, the personal circumstances of the accused and especially the enormous lapse of twelve years since the commission of the offenses ultimately justify the maintenance of the suspension, rejecting the second ground of appeal and upholding the rest of the first-instance decision.

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A 10-year prison sentence was imposed today Wednesday (21/10) by the Limassol Permanent Criminal Court on a 28-year-old man, who admitted to possession of large quantities of drugs for the purpose of supplying to other persons. The accused received from a courier company in Limassol a box containing almost two kilograms of cocaine and about eight kilograms of cannabis.

Specifically, almost two kilograms of cocaine and 8 kilograms of cannabis, which had been imported from Greece, were found in the box.

According to the announcement of the Court and the facts presented before it, the case was revealed after information reached YKAN. Authorities found that the box had been transported to a courier company's warehouse in Limassol, in order to be delivered to its recipient.

A controlled delivery operation followed. The 28-year-old arrived at the scene, presented himself as the recipient of the package and, as soon as he received it, he was arrested in the act by members of YKAN who were in the area.

The scientific tests carried out showed, among other things, a particularly high content of cocaine.

He acted as a carrier for remuneration

As pointed out in the decision, the accused acted as an intermediary - transporter in order for the disputed quantities of drugs to be channeled into the market, following instructions from a third party and for financial gain. His cooperation with another person and his involvement in an organized drug trafficking operation made the offenses he committed particularly serious, while the personal circumstances and family problems of the accused could not be an excuse for his actions.

When determining the sentence, the large quantity and type of drugs as well as the high content of cocaine were taken into account.

The mitigating circumstances included his admission, his personal and family circumstances and his efforts to rehabilitate himself. His previous conviction for offenses related to possession of a class B controlled drug and smoking cannabis, for which he had been fined, was also taken into account.

The prison sentences imposed are concurrent and the 28-year-old will serve a total sentence of 10 years. The case against his co-defendant was set for a hearing at a later date.