- Angela Merkel : Greek parties delay bailout talks despite EU threats
- furore : Work to 75? Swedish PM pension remarks spark furore
- genocide comments : Turkey's EU minister stands by genocide denial comments
- apple : iPad2 prize up for grabs from amongst first 500 SamKnows...
- cricket : England rankings lead slashed after whitewash
- commerce minister praxoula antoniadou : Second round of licensing to be announced next week
- bills : MPs want new charge on power bills suspended
- AKEL : Our View: AKEL hypocritical in accusing DISY head of ‘...
- Cyprus : Over 300 teachers absent every day
- Crime : New action plan to combat crime
TagsJustice
Nicolaou lashes out over police promotions
DISY deputy Ionas Nicolaou pointed the finger at Justice Minister Loucas Louca yesterday over ‘a lack of meritocracy, and party rule’ within the police force.“The Minister chooses to ignore our repeated warnings concerning inequality within the force among officers who are qualified, according to the promotion list, who then witness their colleagues overtake them for a promotion due to party influence,” said Nicolaou.Nicolaou also referred to a record five promotions in eight years, for one officer.“Two officers who were up for promotion, whenever they had done the necessary number of years in the force and were eligible for promotion, were simply promoted as if there were no other candidates,” he added... 2 comments
Fanieros walks free after witnesses retract testimonies
LARNACA businessman Antonis Fanieros was yesterday let free on the advice of the Attorney-general’s office after three prosecution witnesses retracted their testimonies on the first day of his trial.Police chief Michalis Papageorgiou called the development “a failure of the system”. Fanieros, 67, was arrested during a police raid on September 23 and formally charged on October 10.Three others were also facing charges: Costantinos Hadjiantonis, Andreas Charalambous and Neophytos Moleskis. All but the latter were held in custody until trial facing 28 charges including arson, participation in a criminal organisation and extortion allegedly committed between 2010 and 2011... 4 comments
Judges appeal their pay cuts
DISTRICT court judges have decided to appeal the government’s decision to slash their wages by appealing to the Supreme Court.The unanimous decision was reached on Friday during a general assembly by the Cyprus Judges Association, which was attended by 65 of its 90 members.The association announced that the judges “have no choice”, as parliament’s decision “raises issues of constitutional order”.The constitution states that “the salaries and other service conditions for any judge cannot possibly be altered in a negative way for (the judge) after his appointment”.According to the head of the judges’ association, Antonis Liatsos, the judges aren’t up in arms over the financial aspect, but the constitutional one... 8 comments
Mari indictments might come next week
FOLLOWING lengthy meetings yesterday and the day before, the Attorney-general Petros Clerides said that indictments on the Mari blast might come next week. The blast killed 13 people when poorly stored munitions exploded on July 11 last year after being exposed to the elements since 2009. Amid public outcry and promises by President Demetris Christofias that those responsible for would pay, the police handed over their report to Clerides last October. Since then, Clerides has refused to say who would be prosecuted or when. “I am not going to tell you how many people or who (will be prosecuted),” Clerides said yesterday. ... 4 comments
Minister seeks to reinstate fire chief’s suspension
JUSTICE Minister Loucas Louca has sent a letter to the Fire Services seeking to renew the suspension of Fire Chief Andreas Nicolaou who was taken off active duty following the Mari blast.Nicolaou was suspended on the grounds that he had known since 2009 that the 98 containers which exploded on July 11 were dangerous but failed to take any safety measures. Nicolaou was originally suspended on July 27 for three months which Luca then renewed on October 26 when Nicolaou’s original three month suspension was up. Nicolaou appealed both suspensions, taking the case to Supreme Court. He argued that the decisions were “void” and “illegal”. ... 1 comment
Fanieros appeals to president for justice
LARNACA businessman Antonis Fanieros has reportedly written to President Demetris Christofias seeking help to get out of jail, claiming he has been “framed” by police who are trying to portray him as head of the mafia. According to local daily Politis on Sunday, Fanierios, 67, wrote to the president on November 10 seeking his intervention to “stop the injustice against me”. Fanieros, who is currently in detention awaiting trial, was arrested during a police raid on September 23. He faces a string of charges - including conspiracy to commit a felony, arson, participation in a criminal organisation and extortion - the majority of which were allegedly committed between 2010 and this year... 5 comments
Scrambling to bring in more revenue
PEOPLE who owe the state money might find themselves having to pay off their debts sooner rather than later according to Justice and Public Order Minister, Loucas Louca.Louca said that there was no procedure in place for deleting outdated debts but stressed that the ministry was cooperating with all relevant bodies to get a better idea of how much money the state is owed.The minister clarified that people who had died or had filed for bankruptcy were still sought by the police and the state for uncollected fines or social insurance contributions.Louca said that there were also several cases of companies that owe the state money, but that have since ceased to exist, a feat that further complicates the issue... Read on
