Police said on Thursday they completed an administrative probe into how an inmate at Nicosia’s central prisons was deported despite facing charges of assaulting a prison guard – but questions mounted over the convoluted affair after reports that the man in question was also a suspect in a drugs-related case.
On Wednesday, Akel MP Irini Charalambidou posted on Youtube a video – footage from the central prisons – showing two inmates beating up a prison guard.
The incident took place on September 14, 2016.
The key question is why one of the inmates – the one seen punching the guard in the face – was deported following his release from prison, rather than being detained, as at the time he was under investigation for the assault.
Speaking to reporters, police spokesman Andreas Angelides said an administrative probe has already determined a lack of coordination between the police and the prisons department.
“The investigation appears to give rise to certain issues, that is to say, certain responsibilities over the handling of the matter.”
The probe’s findings will be further studied to determine what steps will be taken, Angelides said, without elaborating.
The guard in question filed a complaint with CID. According to Akel’s Charalambidou, the man sustained serious injuries to the face requiring extensive surgery, which the state refused to pay for.
According to Reporter, an online news outlet, following his release from jail the inmate who caused the injuries was visited by immigration officers as part of the routine process to assess whether a felon should be deported.
However, due to a foul-up, authorities did not realize at the time that this was the same person implicated in the assault.
What’s more, Reporter revealed that at some time during 2016 the Drug Squad had recommended that the same man be charged for a serious drugs-related case.
A blunder appears to be the quasi-official explanation.
It’s understood that a criminal case was initially filed against both inmates regarding the assault.
But after the inmate who allegedly punched the guard was deported, there is currently only one defendant.
By coincidence, the trial of the other inmate accused of assaulting the prison guard got underway on Thursday, but the first hearing was postponed until March 16 next year. The man is serving a life sentence.
The Cyprus Mail has learned that the criminal case was filed by CID following a complaint lodged by the prison guard in question.
The complaint was not filed by the Prisons Department, as might have been expected.
Because of this, sources tell the Mail, the subsequent criminal investigation into the assault did not involve taking depositions from Prisons Department staff, but was limited to questioning only the involved parties – the two inmates and the prison guard.
Asked about this, the police spokesman told the Mail that, to his knowledge, CID had in fact visited the central prisons and taken depositions there.
The spokesman said the inmate was deported on December 1, 2016 – but could not recall the precise date of the man’s release from prison.
The man had done time for illegal possession of a firearm.
The Mail’s sources stressed that the key issue is why, on the day, the guard was left to escort a group of about a dozen inmates from one section of the prison to another without any backup, pointing to lax security protocols.
The sources suggested the Prisons Department had tried to sweep the affair under the rug, because the prison guard was seeking compensation from his employer for facial surgery and medical treatment costing tens of thousands of euros.
The guard appeared before at least two medical panels, but he was denied compensation from his employer.
Approving compensation would have been tantamount to the Prisons Department acknowledging that the guard was on duty when the incident occurred, the sources said.
In another twist, the police have meantime launched a criminal investigation into how the contentious footage was leaked.
Prisons director Anna Aristotelous said CCTV footage from the prisons is classified material and that publicizing it constitutes a criminal offence.
She moreover censured Charalambidou for potentially endangering security by releasing a video that reveals the layout of the prisons.
Justice minister Ionas Nicolaou said the Akel MP could be criminally liable for her action.
This was because leaking the video could pervert the course of justice, he said, referring to the ongoing criminal case against the one inmate.
But he stopped short of calling for the lifting of Charalambidou’s parliamentary immunity, saying this was up to the attorney-general.
“Publicizing such material cannot be considered an act of transparency. Everyone, especially MPs, should abide by the law and display the required respect toward institutions.”
The two inmates have not been named – but Sigmalive identified them as two men who were implicated in the gunning down of five people in Ayia Napa in the summer of 2012.
The man who was deported is said to be Georgios Demetriou, a Greek national of Albanian extraction, who had been arrested in connection with the Ayia Napa murders. He was later acquitted of the charge of conspiracy to commit murder, and found guilty only for illegally possessing and carrying a firearm.
According to Sigmalive, Demetriou had threatened to harm the police officers who were investigating the assault on the prison guard.
The other inmate is Demetris Mamalikopoulos, also a Greek national, who was sentenced to life in jail after being found guilty of the June 2012 murders in Ayia Napa.
Four of the victims in that crime were working for local businessman Phanos Kalopsidiotis, who Famagusta police believed was the real target.
Four years later, on June 23, 2016, Kalopsidiotis was shot dead while having dinner at an Ayia Napa restaurant.
