By a Staff Reporter
A DISCIPLINARY investigation has been launched against at least three police officers in connection with the beating of a man by supporters of a Nicosia football team 10 days ago, the police chief said yesterday.
The incident took place at the GSP stadium, where Omonia were hosting Famagusta team Ethnikos, in what police judged a low-risk fixture.
But just a few moments before the final whistle, a fan of APOEL – Omonia’s archrivals – got up in the stand occupied by the handful of Ethnikos supporters, and decided to show his true colours by waving a blue and yellow flag.
In just seconds, a furious mob of around 200 Omonia fans crossed over and brutally assaulted the man.
A handful of police officers and two-three Omonia fans tried to protect the man, who was receiving blows from all directions. The man miraculously escaped serious injury.
But police were heavily criticised for not doing enough to stop the beating, and especially for not preventing Omonia fans from entering the rival stand.
Chief of Police Tasos Panayiotou said yesterday the force had received the report on the incident, adding that a “disciplinary investigation has been ordered against three to five members of the force, including officers, because it initially looks as if they committed disciplinary offences”.
He added the police leadership was determined to impose sanctions in cases where its members did not respond to the demands of their duties.
Panayiotou said the investigation would determine if officers had committed disciplinary offences.
The investigation should – in line with the force’s regulations — be completed within one month.
Panayiotou said the officers involved in the case would not be suspended because they could not influence the outcome.
“Suspension is not a punishment but it helps in the proper conduct of a disciplinary investigation,” Panayiotou said.
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.
