Cypriot businessman murdered in Papua New Guinea

A NUMBER of arrests have been made in connection with the brutal murder of prominent Cypriot businessman Sir George Constantinou, who lived in Papua New Guinea.

Constantinou was Cyprus’ Honorary Consul at Papua New Guinea. He had moved to PNG from Cyprus in the 1950s and established one of the most successful business and construction empires in the country.

According to Radio Australia News, police have arrested four men in connection with the murder, which has left the PNG business community stunned and angry.

The 78-year-old was leaving his timber yard in his car when he was ambushed by a group of around 30 armed men near the Tete settlement in Port Moresby.

A relative, Charalambos Miliotis, told the Cyprus News Agency that his uncle had tried to escape from the ambush but the armed men shot the car’s tyres, sending it into a ditch.

An eyewitness said Sir George received a blow to the right side of his head with a heavy object. He was pronounced dead at a private hospital a short time after the attack.

David Cohn from the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce said the murder has sickened the business community.

“I’m just really horrified that a crime like that could happen to someone who has spent 54 years in the country,” he said.

Cohn added that the Tete settlement was notorious for crime. The Chamber of Commerce says it wants Sir George’s death to act as a catalyst for clearing criminal elements from the settlement.

Sir George was awarded a knighthood by the Queen for his charitable work in the country.

His funeral will be held on Monday in Brisbane, Australia.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.