Trimiklini businessman traps officials and police in illegal fish farm raid

A Trimiklini businessman allegedly diverted water from the Kouris River to illegal fish farms, according to an Audit Office report. On September 19, 2023, he verbally abused, assaulted, and trapped Fisheries Department officials who came to inspect his facilities.

He also ensnared the police officers who arrived after the officials called for help. However, the police did not arrest him, AKEL MP Irini Charalambidou revealed on Thursday, January 11, after the Parliamentary Control Committee session.

The session discussed issues such as illegal fish farming, unauthorized interventions on state land and the Kouris River, and the unlawful operation of catering and accommodation businesses in Sylikos and Trimiklini.

Ms. Charalambidou condemned the businessman for insulting and entrapping both the officials and the police, based on the testimony from the Fisheries Department. "This specific owner trapped the Police, who came for inspection after he detained Fisheries Department officials. Despite that, the Police, as the officials told us, had no complaint," she stressed.

Charalambidou promised to raise the issue with Police Commissioner Stelios Papatheodorou, expressing concern over such conduct despite the complaints from the government departments.

The testimony came from a Fisheries Department official, right after the committee meeting. Other witnesses, such as Ecologists member Effie Xanthou and the Ministry of Agriculture's Director General Andreas Gregoriou, followed.

Charalambidou was astonished that the businessman confined the police officers, claiming illegal interference, and yet the police did not take any action against him.

[This article was translated from its Greek original]