Sisters charged in Larnaca racist rant

Police are moving forward with criminal charges against two women who were captured on video during a racist incident at a Larnaca parking lot in October.

According to local media, the Legal Services Department has approved criminal prosecution of two Greek Cypriot adult females, almost two months after a video was posted on YouTube by a Russian woman.

The foreign national, who lives in Limassol and was identified as Svetlana Zaitseva, says she witnessed a fender-bender and tried to stop a vehicle from fleeing the scene of an accident. She began recording the encounter on video as the women became verbally abusive.

Police are charging the women with multiple offences under legislation against racism and xenophobia, including verbal abuse, assault, domestic violence, indecent behaviour, and use of threats.

The women, who used racial slurs and were seen in the video abusing the accuser, had said they were upset because they were being filmed.

The charges are based on witness statements as well as footage from the YouTube video and security cameras in the area.

Additional reports said the domestic violence charged was based on the presence of two minors, while one of the children in the video appeared to have participated in the assault. The mother of the two women, who was not charged, was also present during the incident.