POLICE remain convinced that young people are gathering in out of the way places to practice satanism, despite a denial on Friday by Justice Minister Doros Theodorou.
In a written reply to DIKO deputy Antigoni Papadopoulou Thedorou said that most of the reports actually concerned fortune-tellers who plied a trade by reading coffee cups and tarot cards.
He said that police were keeping a close eye on areas where young people gathered at night to use or sell narcotics, but said that there had been no evidence linking students to satanic rituals.
However, a police source yesterday revealed to the Sunday Mail that they have received isolated reports that people were forming groups and gathering together in deserted areas.
“We have checked them out and on some occasions we have found suspicious evidence such as dolls on the ground. The question of whether Satanic acts are performed in Cyprus has yet to be answered, but we believe that they probably are,” said the source.
Theodorou did admit that there had been an isolated incident whereby after a tip off police recovered what they believed to be Satanic symbols in a barren area in Limassol.
He added that there had been no concrete evidence linking the symbols to anybody, nor was it established that the symbols were actually related to satanic rituals, so the case was not investigated further.
Theodorou did reassure Papadopoulou that the police were conducting thorough searches in deserted areas for youngsters acting suspiciously, especially on nights where there is a full moon, and that they did view every report they received with the utmost urgency.
He then firmly said that the police had not found any proof that Satanism exists in Cyprus.
Papadopoulou has requested that she is kept informed on all police activity regarding the subject after there were reports filed by the Archimandrite of the Trooditissis Monastery of existing satanist circles.
In his report he said that this satanic circle was luring young unsuspecting students into their cult.
However the spokesman for the police, Demetris Demetriou, was surprised to hear that there had even been reports on satanism on the island. He told the Sunday Mail that no investigations had been conducted to locate youths practicing satanic acts. When questioned on whether youths simply gathered together to use drugs he said, “Well, everyone will do what they want…”
