‘Hooligans had faced charges in the past’

ONE OF those suspected of taking part in the brutal beating of a 20-year-old APOEL fan on Sunday, leaving him on a ventilator and in a critical condition, was not only known to the police but had already faced criminal charges, it emerged yesterday.
Politis newspaper published allegations that one of the Omonia fans heavily involved in the violence at a futsal facility just outside Nicosia – resulting in a warrant being issued for his arrest on a charge of attempted murder – had previously faced a charge of committing grievous bodily harm after a basketball match in 2006.
Following that incident, which resulted in an APOEL fan losing an eye, police were unable to locate any one of the five suspects, despite numerous adjournments of the case hearing granted by the courts. Finally, the Attorney-general recently suspended criminal charges on the grounds of the lack of sufficient witnesses.
According to Politis, the man suspected of involvement in Sunday’s violence was located “very easily” when it came to giving him notice of the suspension. It also said that there was another outstanding warrant against him relating to violence at the Eleftheria basketball stadium.
Police have also issued an arrest warrant for the 20-year-old APOEL fan currently in Nicosia hospital, relating to Sunday’s incidents. However, he also has a case pending before the courts – although a hearing date has yet to be set – regarding an incident last May at the GSP stadium in which an Omonia fan was pushed down the steps of a stand.
Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said that he “wouldn’t like to be hasty and confirm or deny” the claims, but “if what has been published does stand up to scrutiny, then that should trouble us all”, he said. 
“We will not shut our eyes to the problem. I would not wish to comment on this particular matter without being fully informed, but on the face of it, yes, there does appear to be a problem somewhere, there is a weakness somewhere, and we should intervene immediately and drastically.”
Justice Minister Loucas Louca admitted yesterday that “sometimes there are problems with the execution of arrest warrants, which does not only apply to cases involving violence at football grounds”.
Assistant Attorney-general Akis Papasavvas said he was aware of the two cases.
He said the Attorney-general had given “an extensive, analytical and convincing answer” as to why he had decided to suspend criminal prosecution in one of them. As for the other, Papasavvas said that the case-file had already been dealt with by the Legal Service, a charge-sheet had been prepared and a date set for a court hearing. 
Papasavvas said he had heard that Cyprus Football Federation (CFF) President Costakis Koutsokoumnis had provided the information used as the basis for the Politis story, and regarded him as being “petty-minded” for doing so. He suggested Koutsokoumnis had “at least the objective responsibility” for what had happened, and that an attempt was being made to “confuse matters and pass the blame for the affair onto the Attorney-general’s office”.

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.