Extradited man referred to trial in teen’s drug death

A 40-YEAR-OLD man from Limassol was referred on Friday to a criminal trial on charges of manslaughter in connection with the death last year of an 18-year-old who had bought methamphetamine from his coffee shop.

Charalambos Sakkos was extradited from the Netherlands to Cyprus last week after being arrested by the authorities there on October 17.

An international arrest warrant was issued for Sakkos by the Cypriot authorities after the death in June 2018 of 18-year-old Yiannis Assikis from the use of methamphetamine the teen had bought from the cafeteria the suspect owns in Trachoni, Limassol.

The 18-year-old fell into a coma after using the drug and died four days later at Nicosia general hospital.

Police arrested three suspects at the time but Sakkos was abroad and authorities issued an international arrest warrant.

The cafeteria had been on the drug squad’s radar before the incident.

Sakkos is being investigated for manslaughter and drug trafficking among other things.

The trial is set to start on February 27, 2020.

In connection with the same case, the trial of a 40-year-old Syrian man who was the manager of the cafeteria at the time and a 26-year-old Egyptian man who sold Assikis the drug is also pending before the criminal court.

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.