Police corruption: 15 cases in court with 2 convictions since 2018

Marinos Kyriakides, the deputy representative of the Internal Audit Service of the Police, presented data on police corruption cases to the Parliamentary Committee on Institutions. Since its establishment in 2018, the Service has investigated complaints, leading to 15 cases of police corruption brought before the Court, resulting in two convictions. One recent conviction, about two months ago, involved a police member sentenced to four months in prison for securing credit by false representation, among other charges.

According to agency statistics, this year alone, they received 95 reports related to police corruption. Of these, 19 cases were of investigative interest, with two cases proceeding to court (one in the Criminal Court and the other in a provincial court). The remaining 16 cases were closed as no corruption offenses were found, while one case is still under investigation.

The representative of the Police Internal Control Service clarified that although they are administratively subordinate to the Chief of Police, they are operationally supervised by the General Prosecutor. Upon completing an investigation, the file is forwarded to the Attorney General or an appointed prosecutor for further action and decision-making.

During today's Parliamentary Audit Committee meeting, Cyprus addressed criticisms from the European Commission's annual report on the Cypriot judiciary, highlighting concerns regarding the independence and accountability mechanisms of the Attorney General's Office.