A WELL-KNOWN businessman from Nicosia was released from police custody yesterday, after being arrested on suspicion of illegal possession of firearms.
The 64-year-old is the chairman of the Association of Commando Reservists.
According to reports, police had been observing him for some time. On searching his house and his company’s warehouses, they found a large cache of weapons and ammo.
The collection comprises 13 pistols, two airguns, one rifle, 12 firearms, two antique pistols, 40 rifle cartridges, 33 bayonets, four grenades, 33 artillery shells, nine pairs of binoculars, and a large number of cartridges of different calibres.
The businessman claims the weapons are not in working order, they are replicas destined as exhibits in a Commando museum he and army colleagues are planning to set up.
Reportedly, some of the guns date back to the 1821 Greek Revolution, others were used during the 1974 hostilities in Cyprus, whereas some are used even today – such as the G3 assault rifle, the standard issue firearm in the National Guard.
To possess firearms, one needs permission from the Cabinet. The businessman says he imported them from Greece, with all the necessary documentation.
The businessman claims he was planning to open the museum later this year. However, given that at least some of the weapons concerned were imported some 10 years ago, questions are being asked as to why he kept the guns in his house for so long.
Authorities are now investigating whether the businessman had the licence to import the weapons and whether they are operable.
For example, ballistics will have to determine if the firing pins have been removed or the gun-barrels filled up to render them unusable.
A Nicosia criminal court yesterday rejected a request from police to remand the man in custody for eight days.
The judge said the suspect was not in a position to affect others’ testimonies or to tamper with evidence, as police argued.
The same businessman was embroiled in a controversy, when he was quoted by a Greek daily as making disparaging remarks about military officers who were killed alongside National Guard Chief Evangelos Florakis in a helicopter crash in July 2002.
The businessman was speaking to the newspaper about his association’s decision to erect a monument in honour of Florakis alone.
When asked why the monument was not dedicated to the others who perished too, he reportedly hinted that they were not worthy of a memorial.
It was not clear whether the published comments were made on or off the record.
