POLICE yesterday said they had received no official complaint from the father of a 14-year-old girl, who claimed his daughter was left concussed after being beaten by police in Larnaca on Saturday night during post-match trouble.
A spokesman for Larnaca police said he had been shocked to hear of the man’s claims to a number of media outlets following clashes after the match. “Why didn’t he file a complaint to the police, so it could be investigated through the usual procedures?” the spokesman wondered.
The girl’s father told two television stations on Saturday night that the teen had been leaving the football match between Anorthosis Famagusta and APOEL in Larnaca – which ended with league leaders APOEL losing 2:0 – when she was “savagely beaten” by police. The attack, he added, had left his daughter with concussion and bruises all over her body.
Speaking to reporters outside Larnaca General Hospital on Sunday, the girl’s father fumed: “My daughter was beaten by policemen and was hit by a baton when as she was leaving the stadium with her 16-year-old cousin. They tried to defend themselves from the stone throwing that had started by staying close to the police. For some reason they were then beaten by the police, resulting in my daughter ending up in hospital with concussion and bruises.”
But the police spokesman yesterday insisted he could not comment on the incident as no official complaint had been made.
One reporter and two cameramen were also injured in the violent clashes that followed Saturday’s football match between Anorthosis Famagusta and APOEL. The police played the incident down, saying it was “isolated and restricted”,
Police Spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said on Sunday that a small section of fans from both teams started hurling stones at each other, around 250 metres west of the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium. “The stone-throwing started from the APOEL fans,” he added.
The police immediately intervened and order was restored, he said. A 16-year-old boy was arrested on the spot for insulting a police officer and was later released.
“The stone throwing damaged a car windshield, as well as the glass doors of a neighbouring house,” said the police spokesman. “Furthermore, when a section of fans noticed a television cameraman, they moved towards him in a threatening manner and they attacked him. This resulted in him dropping his camera causing it extensive damage.”
Meanwhile, police confiscated 153 flares and two bats from a bus that was transporting APOEL fans from Limassol to Larnaca to watch the match.
“We had been given assurances by the APOEL fan club that their fans would not be going to the stadium in organised groups,” said Katsounotos. This wasn’t the only incident the bus full of fans was involved in on their way to the game. When they stopped off at a restaurant in Chirokitia, they came face to face with Miltiades Neophytou, the Chairman of APOEL’s arch rivals, AC Omonia. They verbally abused him and threw beer cans at his car.
“After hearing about this and once the game was finished, the bus was escorted by police to Kofinou Police Station, where the 33 passengers were questioned,” said Katsounotos. “Fingerprints, DNA and photographs have been taken to assist the investigation, which is still underway.”
He added: “Once again, a section of brainless youths acted out of incapability to compromise with their team’s result.”
