A MAN was beaten and abused by a member of the police for a crime he didn’t even commit, the police complaints authority has found.
The revelation was made by the president of the Independent Authority for the Investigation of Complaints and Claims against the Police, Yiannakis Agapiou, who yesterday met with House President Marios Garoyian.
According to Agapiou, the man in question – who filed a complaint to the Authority – had been arrested for attempting to run over the policeman in question two years earlier after being traced through his car’s registration number.
However, it later turned out that at the time of the crime, the plaintiff had not owned the car and it was in fact the previous owner of the vehicle who was connected to the incident.
Until the truth emerged, not only was the man beaten and severely humiliated by the police officer he was accused of trying to run over, he was also doused in icy water in the middle of winter when he asked for a glass of water to quench his thirst.
“He was beaten and from the extent of the beating and distress he suffered, he got thirsty and begged for water saying he would die if he didn’t have some water; instead of giving him water, in the winter, they doused him with cold water,” said Agapiou.
He added that the policeman had denied any implication in the case, which had led the case to court.
Agapiou presented Garoyian with the Authority’s annual report, according to which there were around 100 complaints made against the police, of which 35 were investigated. Around 40 per cent of plaintiffs claimed they had been victims of physical abuse by police.
Investigations into six of the complaints found officers responsible for disciplinary and/or criminal offences, such as assault or discriminatory behaviour. Agapiou said that all officers linked to these complaints were still in the force.
The remaining 29 complaints were dismissed as unsubstantiated or were not within the Authority’s power to investigate.
Agapiou pointed out that the Authority’s aim was not to restrict the police from doing their job, but to protect the public from offences by certain officers.
The system works both ways, he added, as police officers are at the same time protected from false accusations and claims.
“Those who should really be afraid are those whom the Police Chief himself described as an embarrassment to the force,” Agapiou warned.
