At the suggestion of EU authorities to ensure transparency, the Attorney General, in collaboration with the Independent Authority for the Investigation of Allegations and Complaints, has proceeded with the appointment of criminal investigators selected from a list of 30 lawyers.
According to ‘Phileleftheros’, at this point, investigators are appointed alongside former police officers with long experience of investigating, while the Ministry of Justice intends to train lawyers so that can operate effectively as criminal investigators.
Currently, lawyers all over Cyprus are conducting criminal investigations in cooperation with former police officers, following citizens’ complaints against police officers’ actions. There are currently two ongoing investigation cases against the Police: the first concerns a man’s complaint that he has been shot during a police raid outside his farm in Limassol, while the second case is focusing on Alexis Mavromichalis’ allegations that he was threatened by police
Approximately 120 complaints are lodged by citizens against police officers every year, but few of them are actually investigated.
