THE HEAD of the police complaints authority yesterday encouraged more citizens to report police abuse of power, following the recent revelation of a man who was beaten and abused while in police custody.
The president of the Independent Authority for the Investigation of Complaints and Claims against the Police, Yiannakis Agapiou, told reporters that: “The citizen must know that he has nothing to fear when making charges against police to the authority.”
The authority gave its annual report to the House President on Monday. From the 100 complaints made against the police, 35 were investigated, from which six involved officers committing disciplinary and/or criminal offences. Around 40 per cent of complainants claimed they had been victims of physical abuse by police. Agapiou said that all officers linked to these complaints were still in the force.
One man, whose complaint is going all the way to the criminal court, claimed he was beaten and severely humiliated by a police officer after being wrongly accused of trying to run him over.
According to Agapiou, this was not the only case of police brutality, but probably the most serious. He highlighted that abuse of power occurred not only in detention, but also during arrest.
“We have investigated many cases which are serious, involving beatings and ill-treatment. In my opinion, the most serious was this one. The problem is not just in detention but also during arrest,” he said.
Agapiou noted that in some serious cases, the authority had asked that the police in question be put on suspension.
Justice Minister Kypros Chrysostomides said the state supported the police in maintaining law and order, but that police power ends where human rights of the citizen begins.
“The state supports the police in their fight against crime, but does not accept and considers unacceptable any abuse of this power. Where there is a violation of rules or law, or abuse of power, these cases are investigated and sent to the Attorney-general. The current case is pending in court,” he said.
The Justice Minister said he was unaware whether the police officer in question had been suspended.
“One case has occurred which blackens the image of police, but it’s one incident. We are for transparency but not for exaggeration,” he added.
Chrysostomides noted that from the 35 complaints investigated, 29 were thrown out for being groundless. “In other words, 80 per cent. Only six cases involved a disciplinary or criminal violation.”
The minister met with the Chief of Police, Iacovos Papacostas, following the revelation. Despite calling a news conference at the Justice Ministry yesterday, Papacostas declined to comment further on the report, following the minister’s statements.
“No illegality or violation of citizens’ rights will be accepted. The government has a clear policy that yes, the police have a mission to maintain law and order, but police powers stop where the human rights of citizens and the institutionalised freedoms begin,” said Chrysostomides.
