Civil society groups are accusing police of heavy-handedness after officers used excessive force to arrest three protesters at the end of an anti-racist protest march Sunday in Nicosia.
The arrests occurred after a peaceful protest in Nicosia over the killing of Shoaib Khan, 24, who was shot by police in the UN-controlled buffer zone on January 6. Two protesters were detained for alleged public insults, while a third was arrested for recording the arrests on video, with police citing privacy (GDPR) regulations.
Far Right Watch Cyprus said police levelled additional charges against the two initial detainees, including “insulting police officers, causing disturbance to bystanders, rioting, resisting lawful arrest, and aggressive behaviour towards police officers.”
“Video evidence shows these individuals not only didn’t resist arrest or display aggressive behaviour, but were themselves subjected to unprovoked police action at the march’s conclusion,” the monitoring group said in a statement.
The organisation called the GDPR-related arrest “a global precedent,” adding: “It’s noteworthy that police only appear concerned about privacy when their conduct is being documented.”
Police confiscated a protester’s mobile phone and indicated they would seek a court order to access its data, a move activists say exceeds legal boundaries.
“Constitutional provisions only permit privacy breaches for serious crimes such as murder, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and corruption. The police are well aware that GDPR violations don’t qualify,” Far Right Watch Cyprus said.
A video reportedly showed an officer making an offensive gesture toward protesters during the detainees’ transfer, while another captured police raising a baton toward a demonstrator who was trying to assist a 65-year-old protester allegedly pushed to the ground by officers.
When around 30-40 protesters gathered outside the police station where the three were being held, riot police issued a five-minute ultimatum to disperse, citing Article 70 of the criminal code. Activists say this law pertains to assemblies planning criminal acts, not peaceful protests against arrests.
“Less than 1% of complaints filed with the Independent Authority for the Investigation of Allegations and Complaints Against the Police result in prosecution annually,” the group noted.
The arrests follow heightened scrutiny of Cyprus Police after Khan’s shooting in the buffer zone and recent allegations of corruption.
Far Right Watch Cyprus called for the Data Protection Commissioner and the House of Representatives to take a clear stance on what they termed “police impunity.”
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