POLICE behaviour is coming under scrutiny with two independent investigations in the works over recent incidents.
The Independent Police Complaints and Investigations Commission has asked for a joint investigation with the Attorney-general’s office into police behaviour in a recent case and will itself investigate another.
In a statement issued yesterday the Commission said it considered particularly serious the shooting of a Syrian illegal immigrant at the end of a police chase earlier this month. The man was unarmed and was shot from behind by a Paphos police officer during an incident on the Chlorakas-Kissonerga road.
“The Commission believes the case of the shooting and injury of a foreigner by a police officer in Paphos is a very serious one and has decided to ask from the Attorney-general for a joint investigation into the incident,” the statement said.
According to police, the 45-year-old officer tried to pull the car over at around 6.45pm, but the driver, who had one passenger, accelerated and sped off, driving recklessly and placing the pursuing officer’s life in danger. Police then alleged the driver had turned the car around and tried to mow down the motorcycle.
The two men then stopped and began to flee when the officer fired at them, hitting one in the shoulder blade. The officer was suspended pending investigation by CID.
The second incident that the Police Complaints Commission has decided to investigate concerns a man recently acquitted of manslaughter in the case of his son who died after a fatal blow to the head with a hoe during an argument with his father.
Lawyers for the acquitted man, Christodoulos Charalambous, 50, which the court ruled had acted in self defence, claim that when their client was in police custody following his arrest over the killing of his 21-year-old son Yiannos, he was mistreated and badgered by officers.
Yiannos’ sister Eleni Grigoriou said police investigators had tried to mislead her into persuading her father to sign a confession admitting to the premeditated murder of Yiannos.
She also spoke of the other investigator, who had reportedly told her to persuade her father into giving a statement because the police “only want the best for him”.
Lawyers also said police investigators had told Christodoulos to sign a confession of premeditated murder or else he would not be able to attend his son’s funeral.
During the court’s final decision Judge Yiasemis Yiasemi spoke of the court’s “disappointment” with the police’s handling of the case saying police should have shown more responsibility and acted with fairness and objectiveness.
