Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-08-12

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cyprus-mail.com/>

Sunday, August 12, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] Court slams media in sex case

[02] 'British drugs gangs bring their turf wars to Cyprus'

[03] Police uncover mini-arsenal

[04] Cyprus beats Britain on WHO league table

[05] Kyprianou 'in high spirits' after treatment

[06] News In Brief

[01] Court slams media in sex case

A LARNACA court yesterday issued a further six-day remand order against two well-known Greek Cypriot musicians suspected of child molesting, but slammed the media for its no-holds barred coverage of the case.

The court ordered that in view of the media coverage and the broadcasting of comments on the case by President Glafcos Clerides, all further hearings would take place behind closed doors.

Pressed for a comment on the case following the cabinet meeting in Troodos on Wednesday, Clerides said that if a case for paedophilia existed, it was an isolated one and did not reflect Cypriot society as a whole. “The case will be presented in court, which will render a decision,” he said. “If there is a guilty verdict it will impose a deterrent sentence.”

The court agreed with defence arguments that the remarks were prejudicial and were enough to warrant ordering future hearings in camera. The defence lawyers also argued that media pressure from the beginning had forced the authorities into a hastily put together case for the first remand hearing on Tuesday when musician George Serdaris, 65, and composer Doros Georgiades, 52, were remanded for four days.

The case first came to light on July 29 after a 74-year-old man committed suicide when he discovered his grand-daughter had allegedly been a victim.

He left a note explaining the situation to a well-known television reporter who went to the police.

Defence lawyers Georgios Georgiou for Serdaris, and Demetris Papachrysostomou for Georgiades, told the court their clients had no chance of receiving a fair trail following reports published in the media over the past week.

The court ordered that all future information on the case would come only through court-approved announcements and decided not to release the suspects on bail to avoid the case being further damaged by media interference.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] 'British drugs gangs bring their turf wars to Cyprus'

ORGANISED British gangs are not only bringing drugs to Cyprus but also their turf wars, the Daily Telegraph reported yesterday.

According to the newspaper, two London gangs fought each other with knuckledusters and knives for two hours on the streets of the resort in the early hours of Tuesday before police ended the disorder.

“The drug gangs have followed the clubbers,” the paper said. “Most of the Ecstasy going to Cyprus is made in Britain and imported through the airport at Larnaca.”

It added that some 30,000 visitors, 80 per cent of them British, would be in Ayia Napa this weekend but the resort would only be policed by ten drugs squad officers.

Two British women and 14 men are currently locked up in the Nicosia Central Prisons, the majority either on remand or serving time for drugs offences.

Since April 62 British holidaymakers have been arrested on drugs offences, the paper said, compared with 38 during the previous 12 months.

“For the casual user who gets arrested the shock is considerable,” the paper quotes a British official as saying: “They expect a ticking off as at home, but find themselves in a cell, brought before a Greek-speaking court and missing their flight home. Then they need to get money from home to pay hefty fines and get another flight. They leave the island with an international criminal record and if they are returning to work, they sometimes lose their jobs. If you are coming to Cyprus it's a great place to have a holiday; don't do drugs.”

The paper also quotes drugs squad chief Demetrakis Iasonos as saying his mission was to stop drugs from destroying the island's close-knit community.

“We do not have organised crime here; we do not have a big drugs problem, and we do not want one. Britain receives a lot of tourists. The British don't want those visitors bringing their drugs and their problems to London, ” he said.

One 18-year-old British tourist said she had been scared that Ayia Napa would be like Ibiza “where people come and knock on your door and take orders for drugs”.

“Before I came someone told me Ayia Napa was a drugs paradise, but it hasn't been like that at all. I haven't been offered any drugs,” she added.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] Police uncover mini-arsenal

POLICE have confiscated large amounts of weaponry allegedly in the possession of the National Guard lieutenant colonel remanded on Thursday in connection with several bombing incidents.

Police said yesterday that Savvas Sudjis, 47, showed them where to find an M58 automatic rifle with 1,368 magazines and 762,000 bullets which he allegedly kept at his base.

They said that on Friday night, Sudjis led a CID special task force to a car in which they discovered a mini-arsenal.

It contained half a pound of TNT, three reels of fuse wire, eight automatic rifle magazines, five pistol magazines, one Sten machinegun, a sawn-off shotgun, one flare gun, one air pistol, six pistols, two revolvers, 26 detonators, 10 ampoules of morphine, seven grenade fuses, two smoke grenades, 13 hand grenades, four 40 millimetre grenades, three training rockets, five propulsion mortars, 11 flares and a large amount of ammunition of differing calibres.

The weapons will be tested by forensics experts to determine whether any have been used in criminal activities.

Sudjis has been suspended from the National Guard by the Defence Ministry pending investigations into allegations that he supplied explosives used in recent bombings.

He was remanded in custody for eight days by Nicosia District Court on Thursday, when police told the court that Sudjis had been named by a suspect as having been the supplier of explosive materials.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Cyprus beats Britain on WHO league table

WHO researchers estimated healthcare efficiency using data from 1993 to 1997, taking into account the level of education in each country and then ranking the systems according to their efficiency in turning expenditure into health.

“This does not mean the quality of care is better in Venezuela than in, say Canada, even though it ranks higher,” said David Evans who compiled the WHO table. “This is an efficiency index charting what you get out compared to what you put in.”

The number one spot went to Oman, followed by Malta, Italy, France, San Marino, Spain, Andorra, Jamaica, Japan and Saudi Arabia. The bottom ten places went to African countries, because of the high rate of AIDS and HIV, with Zimbabwe in last place out of 191 countries.

Evans said the Mediterranean countries did well because of their diets as much as their health systems.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] Kyprianou 'in high spirits' after treatment

FORMER President Spyros Kyprianou is reported to be in high spirits after completing his first round of radiotherapy.

Kyprianou has been undergoing radiotherapy to treat the malignant pelvic cancer which he was diagnosed with in June, and will continue with chemotherapy after a break of two weeks.

Doctors have reported Kyprianou's health is 'stable', and say the severe back pain caused by the cancer has been treated so that he is now able to walk around his house with a walking stick. In two recent public appearances, when he attended meetings of the National Council, he was in a wheelchair.

Results from Kyprianou's first round of chemotherapy will be released next week.

An oncologist from Jerusalem, Dr Tamar Peretz, has visited Kyprianou and agreed with his doctors that his current therapy should continue.

Kyprianou was diagnosed as suffering from malignant lung and pelvic cancer in June, just weeks after ending a 40-year political career.

When he stepped down as House of Representatives President, Kyprianou drew the curtain on four decades that also included a decade as President, between 1977 and 1988, and 12 years as Foreign Minister before that.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] News In Brief

Unhappy birthday

According to reports, Cassoulides was in the garden of his home when the phone rang and he rushed to answer it. In his haste he slipped and fell, breaking his left arm and spraining his ankle. As a result of his injuries, the Foreign Minister will spend the next six weeks with his arm in plaster.

According to the reports he plans to spend the holiday period at home recuperating.

Moped rider killed

Police step up patrols

They began operating increased patrols yesterday and are concentrating on the use of seat-belts and motorcycle helmets, speeding and illegal overtaking. They also plan to carry out more breathalyser tests.

Police will also have an increased presence on August 15 on the motorways to deal with the surge of traffic as people come home again.

They are urging drivers to be especially careful and to obey traffic laws so everyone can have an enjoyable holiday.

Ecstasy case remand

Tourism boost

Stolen car torched

The fire in the car, which had been left in an underground parking area in Strovolos, was discovered at around 3.50am.

The local fire department attended the scene and after initial investigations it was confirmed that the car had been burnt deliberately.

After investigation by police it was discovered that the car had been stolen a few hours before it was set alight.

The owner of the car, George Alexandrou, is currently out of the country.

Nicosia CID is investigating.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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