THREE teenaged Nicosia football fans were yesterday remanded in six-day custody in connection with trying to set fire to an opposition team’s clubhouse.
Police are still looking for two other youths in connection with the same incident.
The trio, one 18-year-old and two 19-year-olds, face five charges including conspiracy to commit a felony, attempted arson, assault and causing actual bodily harm, possession of an offensive instrument and in violation of an article of the firearms law.
The incident occurred yesterday morning at around 2.45am, when five men were spotted going round the back of Omonia’s clubhouse on Papanikoli Street. An investigating officer told Nicosia’s district court, the 18-year-old was holding a bottle containing a liquid which he proceeded to pour on the veranda’s canopy, setting it on fire.
The youth was identified by one of the Omonia fans who were in the clubhouse at the time because he knew him personally, the officer said.
The blaze was put out by the clubhouse’s own fans before it managed to spread.
After lighting the fire, the five ran from the scene but were chased by the Omonia supporters. The two 19-year-olds were caught just by the APOEL clubhouse, he said.
“As one Omonia fan tried to immobilise the suspects, the suspects attacked him and punched him on his body, while one of the two used a spray can against him,” the officer told the court.
The pair was finally immobilised with the help of other Omonia fans and handed over to police, who had been called to the scene.
Police said the two youths were taken to Nicosia CID headquarters and under questioning denied any involvement in the above charges. Warrants for their arrest were finally issued at around 9am yesterday. The third youth was also arrested around the same time.
According to the investigating officer, 11 statements had already been collected and 50 more were due to be taken from the suspects’ family and friends. Statements were also pending from the Omonia fans who witnessed the incident.
The officer said investigators were planning to examine the closed-circuit camera footage from the premises and to carry out forensic tests.
Authorities were also trying to locate the flammable liquid as well as the bottle used to set the blaze and to locate the spray used against one of the Omonia fans, he said.
