University sex probe taking longer than expected

By Charlie Charalambous

A SEXUAL harassment probe at the Cyprus University is taking longer than expected, but it is not being swept under the carpet, vice rector Nicolas Papamichael said yesterday.

Papamichael, who heads the three-man investigation team, was responding to a press report claiming the enquiry would be dropped in view of October’s senate elections.

“I’m amazed at the content of the article, and the claims are ridiculous… the election has nothing to do with it,” Papamichael told the Cyprus Mail.

Although he did concede that the investigation would not be completed by the end of July, as he had first hoped.

“We investigate very carefully all the matters that have arisen, and as August is a dead month we hope to complete the report in September, but there is no cover-up.”

An in-house enquiry team was appointed after a female student accused one of the university’s lecturers of sexual harassment while she was alone with him in his study.

It is understood the claim was of suggestive and lewd comments allegedly made by the lecturer to his student.

Sources also told the Cyprus Mail that both parties had been questioned on the matter and that the lecturer has denied any involvement.

Papamichael would not disclose how the investigation was proceeding, but he did tell the Mail: “A few things need to be investigated further.”

Reports claim that other students have accused the lecturer of similar indiscretions, but have shied away from making any formal complaint.

The report’s findings will be made public once they are submitted to the senate for any possible disciplinary action.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.