Cyprus society more aggressive than in the sixties
By Jacqueline Theodoulou
EDUCATION Minister Andreas Demetriou yesterday bemoaned increasing [b]aggressiveness of Cypriot society following the latest act of vandalism[/b] at a Nicosia secondary school.
He was commenting after vandals covered the walls of the Dianellou and Theodotou Gymnasium in Nicosia with graffiti.
“We are doing everything we can as a ministry,” Demetriou said, when asked about the latest vandalism.
“We activated procedures to set up the observatory, teams to immediately deal with such problems. But it needs to be understood that our youths’ aggressiveness does not start in schools. It is imported from outside and we are all responsible for this: parents, political leadership, religious leadership and of course, the educational leadership.”
The minister added that society today was nothing like it was in the sixties, with children expressing their dissatisfaction in more extremist manners.
Asked if the police would be asked to intervene with the latest acts of vandalism, Demetriou said this was only the case if there was a criminal offence.
The Gymnasium was covered in slogans, especially on the inner part of the schoolyard. Some projected the name of a specific football team, but not nationalist statements.
According to the ministry’s Nicosia District Inspector Maria Economidou, the specific school is situated next to the APOEL fan club and whenever there is a critical game – the Nicosia side beat eternal rivals Omonia in a incident-marked derby on Saturday – Dianellou and Theodotou is always targeted.
The only sign of nationalist behaviour emerged when teachers saw the vandals had removed the Cypriot and European Union flags from the school but left the Greek one.
Economidou said the latest incidents have prompted talks to place security guards in the specific school, while efforts are being made to build taller gates around it.
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A hard-core fan club affiliated to Omonia claim their supporters were deliberately targeted by police. In a statement, the fan club put a political spin on the incidents, saying security forces were “getting their own back” on the AKEL government for its crackdown on police. Omonia are affiliated to the communist party.
Two members of the Drug Squad, one of them a senior-ranking officer, have been placed under arrest in connection with the escape of a convicted murderer and rapist. The arrests are said to have angered many in the police force, which feels it is being persecuted. According to the Omonia fans, the police chose to vent their frustration on them.
Nicosia police superintendent Kypros Michaelides yesterday denied the accusations of gratuitous violence on the part of authorities. Police officers were merely trying to restore order and, in doing so, came under dire peril from hooligans run amok, he said.
In one incident, said Michaelides, two officers were trapped against a wall by some 100 fans hurling stones at them.
“Had tear gas not been used, today we might have been grieving over the loss of life,” he told CyBC radio.
Michaelides said police would be releasing CCTV footage – not shown on television yet – to let the public decide whether excessive force was used. He also did not rule out further arrests.
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