House passes law to safeguard protected witnesses

Two significant amendments were approved by the plenum on Friday allowing courts to collect statements from protected witnesses in a different room than the courtroom where the suspect would be present.

The amendments to the violence in the family (prevention and protection of victims) law and to the protection of witnesses law, effectively assure that protected witnesses, including minors and victims of sexual abuse, do not come into contact with the suspects or perpetrators.

Until now, protected witnesses would testify before the court behind a curtain, but in the presence of the suspect.

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.