THE ACQUITTAL of the ten police officers accused of abusing two students three years ago was the front page headline of all the Cypriot press yesterday. All six main dailies condemned the decision and all questioned whether any member of the public could ever feel safe again from those who are meant to “protect and serve”.
Right-wing Alithia, under the headline: “Justice is blind” wrote that the acquittal caused “explosive reactions” but it also took note of the “statements of satisfaction” by the representatives of the defendants.
Under the headline ‘The video was an optical illusion’, another right-wing daily Machi, took issue with the court decision’s reference to how the police officers had been subjected to a ‘trial by media’ The whole court decision had shaken “the faith that society had on the effectiveness of the justice system,” the paper added.
It also made reference to how Attorney-general Petros Clerides stormed into the courtroom and called for the interruption of the reading of the decision.
Politis, the newspaper that first published the story from the contents of the secretly-recorded video ran the headline: “The Justice that beats us!”
“After the Court decision in the case of the abuse of the two students, no one in this country knows what to say anymore,” the paper said. “Sticking to the law was more important than sticking to the facts and they allowed a crime which shocked the whole of society to remain unpunished.”
“Petros Clerides strikes against the Justice system,” wrote daily Simerini. It said the Attorney-general’s furious reaction to the court decision caused a great stir. “He directly challenged the credibility of the justice system, characteristically stating that we must not always trust the justice system,” the paper said.
Under the heading ”The deification of injustice” Phileleftheros wrote that the Criminal Court’s decision to acquit the police officers shocked the public just as much as the video of the beating of the two students had shocked them. “The Attorney-General, in an unprecedented action, that reflects what everyone feels, did not hesitate to publicly declare that the decision ”encourages” state terrorism,” the paper said.
Government mouthpiece Haravghi, ran the story under the headline: “Blind Justice”. It said the Nicosia Criminal Court’s verdict to acquit the ten police officers accused of the abuse of the two students Marcos Papageorgiou and Yiannos Nicolaou on December 20, 2005 had come as a huge shock to the public.
