New clause on police line-ups with legal service

A new clause regarding procedures on police line-ups has been studied and a draft has been sent to the legal service, police spokesman Andreas Angelides announced on Monday.

Police said they were reviewing procedures after MPs expressed outrage over an underage victim of sexual abuse being made to physically go through a police line-up of suspects and point out the perpetrator without having their identity protected.

Chief of Police Zacharias Chrysostomou reportedly gave instructions to the office for handling violence in the family and child abuse to submit suggestions on how to handle cases of the identification of suspects involving children or other vulnerable witnesses immediately after the incident was made public.

Angelides said last week the particular procedure was followed when necessary and rarely in child abuse investigations, adding that reports on the case in question had been misleading.

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.