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Profiles News
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British soldiers charged in Cyprus
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Nine British soldiers have been charged after a bar brawl in the holiday resort of Ayia Napa in Cyprus in the early hours of Saturday, BBC reported Sunday.
The soldiers, arrested after the incident, have been charged with offenses ranging from assault to Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH), which carries a maximum seven-year sentence, the report said.
Ten men are alleged to have got into a fight which spilled into the resort's Bedrock Inn and left three soldiers and two Greek Cypriots injured.
"We can confirm there was an incident on Friday night in the Cypriot town of Ayia Napa involving a number of British forces. We can now confirm that nine soldiers serving with 2 Royal Regiment of Fusiliers have been charged with a variety of offenses and inquiries into the incident are continuing," a Defense Ministry spokesman said.
"The military police continue to work closely with the local police as part of the ongoing investigation," the spokesman said.
The arrested soldiers were reportedly celebrating the end of their tour of duty in the bar and smashed up furniture and broke bottles.
When the owner of the bar and a friend tried to intervene they were attacked.
In addition to the charges already brought against them by the Cypriot police, the soldiers are likely to face disciplinary measures from within the army.
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No law addressing football violence
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THE VIOLENCE both on and off the football pitch on Saturday evening was met with a variety of responses yesterday.
The problem of football violence has returned to the limelight following the interruption of a football game between Apollonas and APOEL Nicosia in Tsirion stadium in Limassol.
A minute before the end of added time, referee Marios Stamatis was physically attacked by Apollonas’ enraged players following several seemingly controversial decisions made against their team. Dozens of fans also rushed onto the field to attack Stamatis.
Until now, five people have been arrested and five more arrest warrants have been issued.
The criminal investigation will include the attack on the referee by football players, following a three-hour statement Stamatis gave to the police at Paphos Gate police station last night.
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Two British tourists originally acquitted in the hit-and-run death of a Cypriot teenager have been found guilty of manslaughter on appeal at the Supreme Court.
Michael Binnington, 21, and Luke Atkinson, 22, from Essex, southeast England had pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of Christos Papiris and causing grievous bodily harm to Marios Demetriou, both aged 17.
They were freed by the criminal court due to a "lack of evidence" in February 2007 but state prosecutors have had this "wrong decision" overturned this week.
The two Britons - now back in the UK - are scheduled to appear at the higher court in Nicosia to be sentenced on March 13 for manslaughter. A manslaughter charge carries a maximum life sentence under Cyprus law.
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Papadopoulos: signing of protocol is Turkey's obligation to EU
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Nicosia, Feb 1 (CNA) -- Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos said here today that Ankara has an obligation towards the European Union to sign the protocol to its custom union agreement with the EU, stressing that securing a signature from Ankara is not his priority since his priority is to find a negotiated settlement in Cyprus.
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Ambulance loss puts lives at risk
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RESIDENTS of a string of remote mountain villages have had no ambulance service of their own for the past two years, putting lives at risk in an emergency.
At least seven communities – including Kambi, Farmakas, Apligi, Palechori Orinis, Palechori Morphou, Askas and Fterikoudi – have had no ambulance since staff shortages put an end to the service.
“We had an ambulance service two years ago. The ambulance was driven by volunteers from the community, but this stopped when there was no nurse to accompany the driver," Palechori Orinis community leader Tassos Michaelides said.
“Now in an emergency we have to drive people to hospital in Nicosia ourselves.
Sometimes though, there are cases where the patient can't be moved and we have had to wait for hours for the ambulance to arrive.”
He said traffic congestion and the distance involved meant it could be the best part of two hours before an ambulance arrived to collect a patient.
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Cyprus pound slips into history
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THE Cyprus pound slipped into history yesterday, the last day of its dual circulation with the euro, joining the ranks of European currencies doomed to serve as exhibits in numismatic museums.
As from today, February 1, only the euro is legal tender in eurozone member Cyprus.
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