A PUPIL was yesterday remanded in custody for five days in connection with the assault of Turkish Cypriot pupils at the English School in Nicosia on Wednesday.
Police say the 18-year-old has confessed in a statement that he was among a gang of youths involved in the assault of Turkish Cypriot pupils on English School grounds during a break on Wednesday morning.
Police received a witness testimony yesterday, according to which three pupils from different schools in Nicosia appeared to be implicated.
In court yesterday, CID Sergeant Christofis Christofi said the police were investigating seven different crimes against the suspect – inciting hostilities between the two communities, rioting, common assault, trespassing, inciting tensions, disturbing the peace and conspiracy to commit a crime.
The investigator said that the police had not ruled out the possibility that the suspect might be part of a gang of pupils intent on inciting hostilities between the two communities.
Another two pupils, arrested around the same time as the 18-year-old, were not brought before a judge yesterday but are still set to be charged.
On Wednesday morning, a group of masked thugs entered the school grounds during break and singled out a small group of Turkish Cypriot pupils.
The incident came two days after Simerini newspaper published an article, claiming a Turkish Cypriot pupil had spat at a Greek Cypriot classmate because the latter had been wearing a crucifix.
The school’s management and parents’ committee have categorically denied Simerini’s claims that the school’s pupils have since been barred from wearing crucifixes at school, but has admitted there was an incident when a Turkish Cypriot pupil spat on the ground in reaction to another pupil’s crucifix.
The pupil has since apologised for his behaviour and his parents sent a written apology condemning his act. The matter was then closed, with the parents of the Greek Cypriot pupil accepting the apology.
The pupil arrested in connection with the case is the child of divorced Bulgarian parents, but has Cypriot nationality and has been living on the island since he was very young. He lives with his mother, and attends the Pancyprian Gymnasium in central Nicosia.
Addressing the court yesterday, the investigator said, “At around 11.30am, a group of around 20 Greek Cypriot youths illegally entered the English School and attacked a group of Turkish Cypriot pupils, punching and kicking them. According to eye witnesses, two out of the 20 youths were holding sticks.”
Police who later arrived at the scene were informed that the culprits were from different schools and that three youths, including the suspect, were identified.
“Upon his arrest,” continued Christofi, “the suspect admitted his involvement in the incident in a written statement. However, he has since been uncooperative with police and will not name the other culprits involved. We believe that the suspect was a protagonist in the incident.”
Police are set to take 11 statements from teachers and pupils of different schools but according to Christofi “that number could rise as the investigations progress”.
Despite objections from defence lawyer Angeliki Karnou, Judge Klitos Hadjipittas sustained the investigator’s request for a remand of five days because the suspect “appeared to be connected to the crime that took place”.
The judge also ruled that should the preliminary investigations be finished sooner, the suspect should be released immediately.
