POLICE HAVE been flooded with new complaints against the 38-year-old man remanded in custody last Thursday in connection with charges of trafficking and exploiting 110 Romanians found living in squalid conditions in Tseri.
According to head of the Nicosia CID, Thomas Efthymiou yesterday, police have received 160 new charges against the 38-year-old by other Romanians living throughout the island. Five interpreters are working round the clock to assist police in taking their statements down. As of 6pm yesterday, around 100 statements had already been filed.
The CID chief said Romanians living and working outside of the Nicosia district flocked to the capital to give their statements to Nicosia CID once word got out that the Cypriot man had been arrested.
Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said that the new charges were of a very similar nature to the ones that the 38-year-old is currently being investigated for. These include charges of trafficking persons, labour exploitation and withholding travel documents.
According to Katsounotos, a meeting was held at police headquarters yesterday to assess progress in the trafficking case, which is likely to have raised eyebrows in Brussels, where Commission officials closely monitor developments related to the single market and basic human rights.
The spokesman noted that investigations are well advanced, with a large number of statements already recorded, though important investigative material remains to be collected.
“Explicit orders were given to promptly take statements from those foreigners who appear to have fallen victim to exploitation to acquire a clear picture of this case,” he said.
Katsounotos said police were taking the charges seriously, noting that Interpol and Europol had showed interest in the case.
“It goes without saying that it has aroused interest, because one [person] is not permitted to exploit another or become an object amenable to any kind of manipulation,” he said.
Last Thursday, police picked up 110 workers, all from Romania, in a specially-made “camp” in Tseri, allegedly run by the individual. The 110 were allegedly brought to Cyprus under the pretence that they would be given contractual labour, but ended up being dumped in cramped quarters, with no hot water or showers, and made to work odd jobs.
Head of the Office for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Rita Superman, said wages of the 110 would go directly to the 38-year-old, supposedly to pay for the €800 commission charged of the workers, leaving them with around only €20 a week.
Labour Minister Sotiroulla Charalambous likened the situation to one of modern-day slavery and pledged her full support to the exploited workers. Police have been working in cooperation with labour inspectors and welfare service officials to ensure that the 110 mostly men are given accommodation and helped to find new employment.
The Cypriot man, who was remanded in custody for eight days by the Nicosia District Court on Thursday, is also awaiting court proceedings on similar charges filed last year.
Katsounotos hinted yesterday that the authorities would seek a renewal of his remand after collecting all the evidence and gathering the witness material. If he is re-remanded, then police will also examine the option of requesting he be kept in custody until the case is heard.
Asked whether criminal investigators would be sent abroad as part of investigations, the spokesman said: “If deemed necessary, we will send investigators to Romania as was done in the past for a similar case involving the same suspect.”
