Officers given suspended sentences for Kitas escape

THE THREE police officers found guilty of a number of charges, including failure to perform their duty, regarding the escape of convicted rapist and murderer Antonis Prokopiou Kitas from a private clinic in December 2008 were yesterday given four to six months suspended sentences.

The three officers are former Drugs Squad chief Charalambos Ioannou, who received a five month suspended sentence, and the two former deputy commanders Avraam Charalambous, four month suspended sentence, and Pantelis Polyviou, six month suspended sentence.

In its ruling, the court said that while the three had information that Kitas planned to escape from the clinic to commit a crime, and was probably armed, they gave no order to prevent his escape, nor did they inform prison authorities to take appropriate measures. It was down to luck that no police officer was killed in the sting operation set up by the Drugs Squad during Kitas’ escape.

The court also underlined that there were serious shortcomings in the manner of his detention at the clinic. The fact that others who had a duty to prevent his escape were not prosecuted, such as the former police chief Iacovos Papacostas, who resigned as a result of the fiasco, and the leadership of the Central Intelligence Service (KYP), was taken into account by the court when sentencing.

DISY deputy Ionas Nicolaou said yesterday that the Kitas case without a doubt highlighted the government’s own responsibility in the fiasco. He pointed to the fact that KYP and the police leadership were aware that Kitas was going to escape. They even concocted a “fantasy” story about the escape when the sting operation ended in failure, he added.

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