A MAN and a woman from Nicosia were yesterday remanded in custody for three days on suspicion of pimping.
Kyriacos Ioannides and Evridiki Vasilliou were arrested yesterday morning following the testimony of a foreign man who alleged that he had paid £55 to have sex with a woman from Uzbekistan, named only as Svetlana, who worked at their bar.
The man alleged that he went to the Avissos (Abyss) bar in Makedonitissa on Thursday night and after a few drinks he asked Vasilliou whether he could have sex with Svetlana.
Police investigator Christodoulos Pilakoutas told the court that the foreigner was told to pay £20 for the drinks and £55 for the sex.
He was also told to leave and come back later to pick her up.
The foreigner agreed and returned later, only to be told by Ioannides that he wanted an additional £20, which he would give Svetlana, the court heard.
He man paid the money and took the woman to a hotel where they had sex, Pilakoutas said.
Police raided the room and caught the couple in the act.
They also found used and new condoms lying around the room, the court heard.
When questioned, the man said he had paid the suspects to have sex with Svetlana, an allegation that she confirmed.
She also said that she had not received any money and that her share would have been given to her later on.
The agreement was to get £30 for each client, she told police.
Ioannides, who appeared without a defence lawyer, took it upon himself to cross-examine the police investigator.
Among other things, it was revealed in court that police had gone to Avissos with a search warrant issued for drugs and weapons and that Ioannides had repeatedly reported to police that women working at his bar went with clients and that he could not control them.
Police requested the suspects be remanded for five days, citing the risk of them influencing other witnesses.
They also said they had another 25 to 30 testimonies to take.
Ioannides disputed that, and suggested that one day would have been more than enough.
He also told the court that seven days were too much as he had a big family to look after in addition to his two other jobs – realtor and car salesman.
His arguments, coupled with the seemingly haphazard way the police handled the case, apparently convinced the judge, who remanded him and Vasilliou in custody for three days.
