Papacostas on back foot after reports of police closing ranks
POLICE CHIEF Iacovos Papacostas yesterday denied officers had tried to thwart the criminal investigation into the escape of convicted killer Antonis Prokopiou Kitas.
“It was a misunderstanding,” Papacostas explained.
The police chief the officers accused of trying to hinder the criminal investigation into the events running up to, during and after the double murderer’s escape, had meant no harm.
Papacostas said the Attorney-general’s office and the five criminal investigators appointed to examine the case had “excellent” relations with police.
“This was a misunderstanding which was cleared up during yesterday’s meeting,” he said.
“The officers were asked by the criminal investigators to assist in the investigation and the officers only felt it right to inform their superiors first before helping with the criminal investigation.”
An emergency meeting was held at the weekend to address reports that a handful of officers were being uncooperative. The meeting was attended by the AG, the police chief and Justice Minister Loucas Louca.
During the meeting it was agreed that police were to co-operate with the criminal investigators and to answer their questions without first seeking permission from their superiors. A memo was subsequently issued to all police departments.
Speaking to reporters with respect to the ongoing case, the police chief added that he had no plans to resign and that he would remain at the police force’s helm as long as the President deemed him fit for the job.
Papacostas also announced that he was setting up an Internal Affairs Service which would be responsible for investigating accusations or information regarding police corruption. The service’s operation would come under the police chief and would be managed by the deputy chief of administration. It will be run by a senior officer and staffed by a team of officers and experienced interrogators, he said.
Regarding reports that Drug Squad officers had illegal dealings with the double rapist and murderer and has assisted in Kitas’ December 12 escape from Nicosia’s private Appollonion hospital, Papacostas said he was not kept informed on the investigations’ details.
DISY deputy Christos Pourgourides said there were still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding the debacle.
The outspoken deputy said it was obvious Kitas had a lot of muscle backing him otherwise he wouldn’t have spent six months essentially “holidaying” at a private hospital.
He said: “When you have a system that is sick you need to treat it and you need measures other than appointing criminal investigators. Strong political decisions need to be taken and the extent of the infection within the police needs to be diagnosed. Will this be undertaken by the criminal investigators?”
Pourgourides expressed his reservations about how effective the ongoing investigation would be and said measures had to be introduced that located corruption in the system before things exploded. He also suggested that conscientious officers had to be rewarded and pointed out that the today’s state-of-affairs had not simply developed during the past year or two.
Former Justice Minister Sophocles Sophocleous also said responsibility had to be apportioned where due and called for a complete restructuring of the entire police force. Sophocleous said change was necessary and that promotions had to be based on meritocracy. The EDEK vice president also questioned where leaks regarding Kitas’ statements had come from.
Meanwhile reports said arrests were imminent within the week and that at least two Drugs Squad officers were at risk.
A police source said a number of officers looked likely to go down for something that was not entirely their fault.
“There’s a lot more going on and the right people aren’t being kept informed about what’s really happening,” he said.
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