Police seek Athinis extradition from Poland

CYPRUS police have asked for the extradition of Cabaret owner Sotiris Athinis, who was arrested in Poland on Thursday by the local Interpol bureau.

The 47-year-old from the village of Kilani has been wanted by Cyprus police since last February in connection with an attempt to destroy property, illegal possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony.

Athinis made the headlines in late 1999, amid spiralling gangland violence in Limassol. In December of that year, he was brought to trial on charges of conspiracy to murder Hambis Aeroporos. But the charges were dropped after the Supreme Court ruled key evidence against Athinis and his sister was inadmissible.

Two months earlier, while still on trial, Athinis survived an anti-tank missile attack outside his Limassol cabaret.

Police sources said the Nicosia Interpol bureau was in constant contact with the Polish bureau, but that the extradition date had not yet been fixed.

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.