Left-wing AKEL has called for the resignation of Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis following the death of a 24-year-old man in a police shooting incident.
The victim was found partially clothed in Nicosia’s Acropolis area on Epiphany Day. After five days of contradictory statements, authorities confirmed the death resulted from police gunfire during an incident in Potamia.
“The minister’s response to this incident shows a complete disregard for political accountability”, Damianou said in a statement, referring to Hartsiotis’s statement that “crimes will happen” and that he remains “immovably focused on his goals”.
The incident comes amid broader concerns about public safety, with Damianou citing seven prison escapes during Hartsiotis’s tenure and increasing incidents of violence, including hooliganism in residential areas.
The case could expose Cyprus to scrutiny from the European Court of Human Rights, similar to previous cases involving other states in police shooting incidents, Damianou warned.
The justice minister has defended his position, maintaining that occasional “misguided incidents” should not detract from his ministry’s objectives.
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