Cyprus-Forum.com

[YFred]

Banana republic – rejoice in your justice system’
By Marianna Pissa

TEN POLICE officers accused of assaulting and humiliating two students in December 2005 walked free yesterday after a Nicosia court cleared them of all charges.

In its 158-page verdict, which took five hours to read out, the court said the defendants’ guilt had not been established beyond a reasonable doubt, despite film footage of the beatings beamed across television sets for months.

Moreover, the court deemed that the publicity surrounding the case may have prejudiced the course of justice.

In an unprecedented move, halfway into the announcement of the verdict, Attorney General Petros Clerides burst into the court room and requested that the reading of the verdict be stopped so he could pose a question to the Supreme Court as to why the video was not accepted. The presiding judge denied his request and the Attorney General left the court.

Upon hearing the verdict the police officers and their families let out cries and tears of joy. It was a different story for the plaintiffs, only one of whom, Yiannis Nicolaou, appeared in court yesterday.

A devastated Nicolaou later said: “There is no justice in Cyprus, no one is safe here; there is state terrorism.”

Dr Yiannis Papageorgiou, father of the second student Marcos, shouted out, “Banana Republic, you may rejoice in your justice system……I am disappointed, just like the majority of Cypriot society will be over the decision of this justice system”

The defendants were: Andreas Efstathiou, Charis Charitos, Andreas Panayi, George Kylilis, Costas Toumbas and female officer Christiana Antoniou. Co-defendants George Pavlou, Iordanis Iordanous, Andreas Christou and Tefkros Charalambous, were facing charges of failure to prevent a crime and dereliction of duty.

The court said the 43-minute video footage submitted by the prosecution did not constitute valid evidence. The footage showed police officers repeatedly kicking and punching the handcuffed students. The court rejected the video on the grounds that “it denied the police of the right of a fair trial” because the defence failed to question the man that filmed the video.

The defence had made arguments in the past that by not allowing the man to take the stand and be cross-examined, their clients would not be getting a fair trial. The court had heard in the past from the prosecution how the man who had filmed the incident did not want to come forward and testify because he was afraid for his own safety.

The court also said that the testimony of the experts that analysed the video was “not considered reliable beyond reasonable doubt” — referring to the method they used as regards to the certification of the authenticity of the video. The experts said that it was the first time they had to do something like that.

The court also said the way the police officers were identified by their superiors and the plaintiffs themselves “was not spontaneous and authentic” because they had repeatedly watched the video. Basically the court did not accept the identification from the two plaintiffs and the police officers’ superiors. The court said that indirect pressure, including threats, was exerted on these superiors to identify the police officers with specific reference made to the former head of the Rapid Reaction Unit (MMAD) Antonis Shakallis.

It also referred to how the incident had happened, and that two testimonies of residents in the area were dismissed .The residents testified in court that on December 20, at around 3.20am, they had been woken up by people shouting, went out on their balconies and saw two people shouting in the street. They saw the arrival of a patrol car and other police officers. According to the court, one of the residents of the area had given three statements, two to the police and one to the criminal investigator. The court said that the first two testimonies place the blame on the two plaintiffs and not the police, but in the third and final testimony given four months later to criminal investigator Panayiotis Pelagias, the resident changed his testimony saying that he had witnessed more violence. According to the court this is because he had repeatedly seen the video.

The defence lawyer of one of the ten police officers, Michalakis Kyprianou said: “Justice has shined today in Cyprus, because despite the adverse effects of the several publications before and during the trial concerning the defendants, the court in a unanimous and bold decision has rejected all the claims of the prosecution.”

Some of the ex-defendants are now considering taking legal action against the state for what they claim was their unlawful suspension.

George Papaioannou, another lawyer representing one of the police officers said: “For three years now, all the defendants were suspended and were only receiving half their salary. The acquittal will open the way for compensation.”

House Legal Affairs Committee Chairman DISY deputy Ionas Nicolaou said the court decision “merits careful study. Regardless of this, and with utter respect for the justice system, the decision poses serious political questions.

“Society cannot be denied of the right to discuss horrific events that generate public debate. No one should forget that society has the right to judge the decisions of even the courts,” he added.

“The appalling images that we all watched on our television sets are deeply rooted in the thoughts of all of us. However it seems that some have forgotten.”


By Elias Hazou
ATTORNEY-GENERAL Petros Clerides yesterday delivered a hard-hitting punch line, openly casting doubt on the court’s decision to acquit the ten police officers.

“I am completely disappointed with the justice system. Sometimes, yes, justice is blind,” Clerides complained on CyBC’s evening news bulletin, hours after the verdict was read out.

The top lawman questioned the court’s judgement in dismissing the contentious video footage. The fact that some of the defendants later sued the two plaintiffs was additional evidence in favour of the prosecution, he said.

Clerides said the court’s decision that the identification of the defendants during a line-up was botched and that therefore it could not be admitted as evidence, was bogus.

He defended also his intervention during the court proceedings yesterday, saying he was well within his rights to ask that the reading of the verdict be stopped so he could pose a question to the court. The request was dismissed by the judge.

“The court was extremely disrespectful toward me,” a bitter Clerides said.

The Attorney-general refused to be drawn on whether his office would appeal the decision, although he did not rule it out either.

Clerides’ questioning of the courts has raised many eyebrows, coming just days after he spoke out against sections of law enforcement, claiming that police were not co-operating in the ongoing probe into escape of a convicted murderer.

Commenting on Clerides’ court interruption, George Georgiou, a lawyer representing one of the defendants said, “Since the Attorney General has the right to an appeal, he should have shown patience and composure. He should have studied the decision and then appealed it if he felt the decision is wrong. He shouldn’t have intervened during the announcement of the decision.”





CASE BACKGROUND

- The incident took place on December 20, 2005 at 4am on Armenias Street.
- In March 2006 a video recording was leaked to Politis newspaper by a resident of the area. The 43-minute tape showed the repeated battering of Papageorgiou and Nicolaou by plainclothes officers during a routine ID check during the early hours.
- An investigation team was appointed and a thorough investigation of the case began.
- An indictment with 97 charges was drawn up and on July 13, 2006 the defendants (police officers) were taken to the Criminal Court where they faced serious charges.
- The trial started on December 3, 2007, two years after the incident; the video of the battering was screened in court. The tape was submitted in court by Attorney-General Petros Clerides, who testified as a witness for the prosecution. The video was accepted as evidence
- On April 2, 2008 Yiannis Nikolaou testified in the Criminal Court.
- On May 26 2008 Marcos Papageorgiou testified.
- On September 17 2008, an interim decision acquitted the defendants from charges of torture that could have cost them 14 years in jail. The court then instructed the officers to apologise for their part in the beating of students, which related to submission to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
- On October 3, 2008 the police officers pleaded innocent.
- March 19, 2009 Announcement of the verdict- police officers are acquitted of all charges.




Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009

This from an EU member country?

[DT.]

Unfortunately the judgement is correct regarding the technicality they got off on. As someone else said today, when you live in a democracy it is better to release 10 guilty people than incarcerate 1 innocent.

[Tim Drayton]

Unfortunately the judgement is correct regarding the technicality they got off on. As someone else said today, when you live in a democracy it is better to release 10 guilty people than incarcerate 1 innocent.

Yes, the report says "the court said the defendants’ guilt had not been established beyond a reasonable doubt" and this, I am afraid, is how the rule of law works.

[DT.]

Unfortunately the judgement is correct regarding the technicality they got off on. As someone else said today, when you live in a democracy it is better to release 10 guilty people than incarcerate 1 innocent.

Yes, the report says "the court said the defendants’ guilt had not been established beyond a reasonable doubt" and this, I am afraid, is how the rule of law works.

These people that write on this forum and post seemingly "damaging" articles regarding this country with their usual tagline of "this from a member of the EU" are ridiculous.

Make sure you've got a valid reason behind writing something like this before you do it. Don't be blinded by hate and one-upmanship because there are cases in which you will be ridiculed such as this. This judgement proves that the letter of the law is followed to a "T" in Cyprus regardless of how popular or unpopular some judgements may be.

[Oracle]

I'm with the more lenient/justice orientated system of Cyprus, since there are too many cases (one just a few days ago in the UK), of people being released even a quarter of a Century later, having spend the best part of their life, wrongfully incarcerated.

[YFred]

Unfortunately the judgement is correct regarding the technicality they got off on. As someone else said today, when you live in a democracy it is better to release 10 guilty people than incarcerate 1 innocent.

Yes, the report says "the court said the defendants’ guilt had not been established beyond a reasonable doubt" and this, I am afraid, is how the rule of law works.

Was the judge blind. There was no doubt of any kind. This will do more damage to the TCs confidence than than anything else. TCs will not trust not just the police but the RoC justice system.

[DT.]

Unfortunately the judgement is correct regarding the technicality they got off on. As someone else said today, when you live in a democracy it is better to release 10 guilty people than incarcerate 1 innocent.

Yes, the report says "the court said the defendants’ guilt had not been established beyond a reasonable doubt" and this, I am afraid, is how the rule of law works.

Was the judge blind. There was no doubt of any kind. This will do more damage to the TCs confidence than than anything else. TCs will not trust not just the police but the RoC justice system.

YFred, the judgement was 330 pages. Have you read it to understand why the evidence of the video footage was not admitted?

[YFred]

Unfortunately the judgement is correct regarding the technicality they got off on. As someone else said today, when you live in a democracy it is better to release 10 guilty people than incarcerate 1 innocent.

Yes, the report says "the court said the defendants’ guilt had not been established beyond a reasonable doubt" and this, I am afraid, is how the rule of law works.

Was the judge blind. There was no doubt of any kind. This will do more damage to the TCs confidence than than anything else. TCs will not trust not just the police but the RoC justice system.

YFred, the judgement was 330 pages. Have you read it to understand why the evidence of the video footage was not admitted?

I have not read the judgement, but I can smell bullshit from a mile away being of country folk origin. Excuses. Rodney King case comes to mind. You just don't realise how American you are.

[YFred]

I'm with the more lenient/justice orientated system of Cyprus, since there are too many cases (one just a few days ago in the UK), of people being released even a quarter of a Century later, having spend the best part of their life, wrongfully incarcerated.

I wonder if you would say the same thing if 10 Turkish Policemen were involved? I think not.

What is really ironic is that this crime committed by police was in Armenias Street.

[YFred]

Unfortunately the judgement is correct regarding the technicality they got off on. As someone else said today, when you live in a democracy it is better to release 10 guilty people than incarcerate 1 innocent.

Yes, the report says "the court said the defendants’ guilt had not been established beyond a reasonable doubt" and this, I am afraid, is how the rule of law works.

These people that write on this forum and post seemingly "damaging" articles regarding this country with their usual tagline of "this from a member of the EU" are ridiculous.

Make sure you've got a valid reason behind writing something like this before you do it. Don't be blinded by hate and one-upmanship because there are cases in which you will be ridiculed such as this. This judgement proves that the letter of the law is followed to a "T" in Cyprus regardless of how popular or unpopular some judgements may be.

DT, this is not about one-upmanship. There are quite a few incidences which show not just the police but the whole justice system is as the article suggests bannana republicified, if you see what I mean. You are just blind to it.
Don't worry UK has it as well. Police shot a innocent man 5 times in the head but no one is responsible for it. Instead the police get done on Health and safety.