Escaped convict to be sent back to Greece

A GREEK national arrested in Cyprus earlier this month on burglary charges will be returned to Greece after it transpired he had escaped from a Greek prison where he was serving a 25-year sentence two months ago.

The 25-year-old Greek Pontian was arrested on August 7 in Limassol with another man, allegedly during the burglary of a house. Incidentally, police are seeking a third man in connection with the burglary.

Police soon discovered that the 25-year-old had entered Cyprus using a fake Romanian passport. They sent his real details to the Greek authorities to do a background check and discovered that in 2008, he had been convicted of around 45 charges relating to attempted murder, carrying weapons, armed bank robbery, theft and others.

The man was serving a 25 years prison sentence until June 2 when he went missing after being given a three-day exit pass.

Following the legal opinion of the Attorney-general, Cypriot police on Thursday withdrew the charges against the 25-year-old and executed a Greek-issued European Arrest Warrant against him.

The 25-year-old was taken to Limassol district court yesterday where he did not contest his return to Greece.

Greek police have ten days to come and collect the fugitive from Cyprus.

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.