The appointment of an Independent Criminal Investigator was at the centre of talks between Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou, the Attorney General, Costas Clerides, and Zacharias Chrysostomou, the Chief of Police on Monday with regards to recent information received by the police from their Serbian counterparts.
The information revolves around suspected police involvement in events leading up to the Kalopsidiotis murder in Ayia Napa earlier this year and which has police running could land Cyprus in hot water with Interpol.
Following the meeting, Nicolaou said that “We are all responsible with regards to corruption” and announced that he had requested a criminal investigation in the handling of information which was relayed by the Serbian branch of Interpol to its Cypriot counterpart with regards to the arrival of a Serbian hit squad on the island, the involvement of a prison warden, the management of the information, and the leaks of case sensitive material.
Welcoming the support of the political leadership in stamping out corruption within the police, Nicolaou took on the political responsibility along with the help from the police command to implement measures to combat corruption saying that “The road to quashing corruption in the police is not easy and is expected to get all the more difficult as our efforts are intensified.”
“We are all responsible for the present state of the police force,” continued Nicolaou.
The Minister concluded by saying the Government has suggested a change in the recruitment procedures by ending personal interviews in an effort to combat nepotism, and that the recruitment would be based on characteristics that would negate the influence of corruption and would promote the reorganization of the police force and the implementation of meritocratic promotion criteria.
Source: in-cyprus.com
