Assault suspects beat up journalist outside Limassol court

By Athena Karsera

A FEMALE journalist and two cameramen were yesterday injured after being attacked by suspects leaving Limassol court.

They had been waiting to cover the remand of five Limassol youths accused of assaulting two foreigners and a Cypriot in the early hours of Sunday.

Constantinos Christou, 19, Alexis Papadopoulos, 18, Andreas Christou, 18, Kyriacos Karamanis, 17 and Yiannakis Christofis, 18, had just been remanded in custody for five days when the incident occurred.

Eyewitness reports said CyBC journalist Sotiroulla Christofidou fell to ground and was repeatedly kicked in the stomach by the suspects, while some of their friends and relatives joined in the attack against waiting journalists.

Two cameramen, Mega’s Klitos Erotocritou and Extra’s Demetris Nichopoulos, were also injured. All three were taken to Limassol general hospital, but released after receiving first aid.

A relative of one of the suspects was also slightly injured, police reported later.

Christou, Papadopoulos and Karamanis, also face charges of providing false identification after giving police fake names and addresses on their arrest.

Police were yesterday expected to arrest five more people in connection with the courthouse attack, while journalists who were present court have accused police of not intervening.

A police report, however, said the incident had been contained because of police intervention.

Asking for the five’s remand earlier, the investigating officer said one of the two foreign men injured in the Sunday attack had identified all five of the suspects on their arrest.

One of the suspects had admitted that the five had beaten up Briton Oscar Perrez, 28, and 20-year-old Egyptian Rony Elbahey and said they had also assaulted 23-year-old Andreas Evthimiou, the officer told the court.

Evthimiou is being treated for multiple face injuries at Limassol general hospital after having been repeatedly hit over the head with a chair in the early hours of Sunday.

Police yesterday said that investigations into all the incidents were continuing.

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.