Police chief Themistos Arnaoutis, who was questioned in 2020 in connection with the suicide of 14-year-old Stylianos Constantinou in 2019, denied any responsibility in the case, press reports said on Wednesday.

During testimony given in September 2020, Arnaoutis had given no answer to 31 questions posed and after the 32nd question he had denied any responsibility and made no reference to the actual case, for which criminal investigators had then found him possibly liable.

Phileleftheros got hold of this statement by Arnaoutis, who was then the head of the Pera Chorio police station, which received at least four complaints by Stylianos’ mother against her livestock farmer husband.

On Tuesday in court, independent investigators Andreas Andreou and Modestos Pogiadjis confirmed they had concluded there were grounds for criminal liability for multiple police officers, including Arnaoutis, following their examination of repeated complaints made over several years to police stations.

The case concerns 21 recorded reports made by Stylianos’ mother between 2007 and 2013, involving allegations of domestic violence, threats and assaults.

According to the police report presented in court, many of these complaints were registered in station logs but were subsequently marked as closed without further investigation or escalation.

Stylianos was found dead by suicide at the family farm on September 5, 2019. His two younger siblings were removed from the family home after his death.

The investigators found Arnaoutis in 2020 was liable for a complaint filed in March 2013, when the mother had reported her husband for pushing and slapping her.

The complaint should have been investigated by Pera Chorio police station, according to a circular issued in 2007 by the then police chief regarding domestic violence.

In their report in December 2020, the investigators said there could be a case against Arnaoutis for neglect of duty.

During Tuesday’s hearing, defence lawyer Victor Akamas said attorney-general George Savvides had decided not to prosecute Arnaoutis when he received the report in 2020.

The investigators had been appointed in 2019 by then attorney-general Costas Clerides and the case was lodged in 2021.

Furthermore, the investigators had suggested the prosecution of 15 police officers but only one, a 58-year-old sergeant, was ultimately charged.

Nine other people were charged, including the 55-year-old father for physical and psychological violence, the 48-year-old mother for neglecting to report the violence and seven social welfare officers, two of whom admitted guilt and have been handed suspended prison sentences.

Although Arnaoutis had not responded to the questions posed during his interrogation, he did mention two complaints filed by the mother – one for a missing child and the other that Stylianos had been beaten by his father.

Arnaoutis, Phileleftheros said, had signed four complaints, indicating that he was fully aware of them.

Following the news that Arnaoutis had been investigated in the suicide case of a minor, lawyer Christos Triantafyllides issued a statement on Wednesday deploring the police leadership.

In a post on X, Triantafyllides called on President Nikos Christodoulides to take measures to restore the trust of the public in the police.

“It is unthinkable that these people continue to lead the police,” Triantafyllides said.

He added that there could be no trust when the chief and deputy chief of police have been proposed for criminal prosecution by the appointed investigators, only for the attorney-general to intervene and stop the process.

Triantafyllides told the president that “your responsibility is huge” and that he must halt the downfall of the police, other wise “the day will come when the state is in chaos and illegality will be ‘having a party’.”

Volt also reacted to the news, saying that while polls indicated a loss of trust in the authorities, the police were “doing everything they can to confirm this”.

It said the main question was whether Christodoulides was aware of the situation when he chose Arnaoutis as chief of police, while the attorney-general once again appeared to be closing cases without being held accountable.

“Volt is the only party that has repeatedly called for their resignation. If they wish to serve the rule of law, this is the only act of responsibility that they can make,” the party added.

It added also sounded the alarm around domestic violence cases, saying that complaints could not be treated as low priority family issues.