NG Deputy Commander Savvas Argyrou removed from post

 

THE CABINET has sacked the National Guard’s (NG) deputy commander, Savvas Argyrou, for reasons of ‘national interest,’ government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou announced yesterday.

Stefanou said Argyrou’s was removed in line with the “police’s undergoing criminal investigation regarding the containers’ explosion at Evangelos Florakis naval base in Mari.”

Munitions held in 98 containers had been stacked together for over two years prior to the blast which killed 13 and knocked out the island’s main power station at Vassilikos.

Three NG officers have already been suspended with a fourth transferred to a different unit.

Argyrou could not be suspended along with the other three officers because he had been appointed by the cabinet.

The Defence Minister and NG Commander had both resigned hours after the blast.

The Cabinet also yesterday decided to offer in total about €2.8 million to the families of the victims.

Each wife and offspring (irrespective of age) will be given €95,000. The victims’ children will also be getting university scholarships to study in Cyprus or abroad.

This may not be enough to appease the angry parents of twin victims Miltos and Christos Christoforou.

In a letter to the Attorney-general by their lawyer, they called for an independent committee to investigate the Mari blast arguing that current investigations lacked credibility.

 

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