The ten individuals arrested during a demonstration in Limassol on Saturday afternoon protesting high rents and the death of Bangladeshi immigrant Anisur Rahman remain in custody, as a new hearing is scheduled for today.
The detainees, six men and four women, were brought before the court yesterday shortly after 11:00 am, with the police requesting to detain them for a period of four days. They face a series of charges, including conspiracy to commit misdemeanours, disturbing the peace, public insult, and assault on a police officer.
Their defence lawyers objected to the police’s request of prolonging their detainment. The Court did not reach a decision on issuing detention orders, and a new procedure is expected to take place at 9:00 am today.
Police stated that during the protest at the Limassol Crime Investigation Department (CID) building over the death of Anisur Rahman, protestors showed aggression towards police officers, who moved to break up the gathering.
Speaking to in-cyprus, protestors have disputed the police’s account, describing the clash as an “unprovoked attack” and accusing the police of physical and verbal abuse.
In a press release, the lawyers of the detained, Efstathios Efstathiou and Socratis Tziazas, also describe the incident as an “unprovoked attack”, highlighting instances of “criminally disproportionate violence” on the side of the police.
The lawyers’ press release:
On April 27, 2024, in Limassol, a lawful protest was held by free-thinking citizens of the Republic of Cyprus. They expressed their frustration with the high cost of housing rent in their city, as well as their concern about the fate of the five non-police eyewitnesses in a recent incident where a person lost their life falling from a five-story height rather than being apprehended by the police.
During this peaceful protest, which for us as lawyers constitutes a cornerstone of a democratic society, where citizens exercise their right to peacefully assemble to express their views and concerns on current issues as well as perennial issues such as police violence and state impunity, the protesters were subjected to an unprovoked attack by strong police forces, which, it should be noted, outnumbered the few peaceful protesters.
During this attack, ten protesters were arrested, at least five of whom, through their lawyers, filed complaints to the Commissioner for Administration and the Protection of Human Rights, for assault and/or beating by the police. One of the protesting women was hospitalised at Limassol General Hospital because, despite being pregnant and informing the police who attacked her, they did not relent and continued to beat her, demonstrating excessive zeal and criminally disproportionate violence against her.
We feel ashamed as lawyers who, just a few weeks ago, denounced in the European Parliament the humiliating and inhumane treatment of dissenting individuals by the Turkish state, to see such incidents occurring with alarming intensity and frequency in the Republic of Cyprus.
We await the response of the Commissioner for Administration, who, having the role of “guarding the guardians,” must convey the message that such behaviour cannot be tolerated in a modern and democratic society.
