Newsroom
The Nicosia District Court on Friday ordered the seven-day detention of five Central Prisons officers in connection with the unauthorized removal of confidential prison documents, following their discovery at the home of a fellow officer.
The suspects, four women and one man, were arrested Thursday after police uncovered roughly 300,000 documents, including classified and confidential files, in the home of a previously detained officer who was released by the Court of Appeals earlier in the week.
The alleged transfers primarily occurred in November and December 2022, when the four female suspects were stationed in the prison’s administrative offices. Police testimony claims the documents were removed using trolleys and fabric bags bearing the Prison Department logo, sometimes during office hours.
Judge Georgia Karamanli ruled in favor of the police’s request for detention, citing reasonable suspicion, the ongoing nature of the investigation, and the potential risk of witness interference. She emphasized the legal threshold for remand had been met and dismissed claims from defense attorneys that detention was unnecessary.
The officers face a range of potential charges, including conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor, abuse of power, theft by public servants, breach of official secrecy, and violations of personal data laws.
Defense attorneys challenged the detentions, arguing there was no immediate risk of tampering, the evidence was vague, and that the suspects had ample opportunity to interfere earlier but did not. They criticized the police for acting belatedly and failing to first summon the suspects for questioning.
Despite these objections, the Court maintained the suspects will remain in custody for seven days or until the investigation concludes.
