Eleven police officers are to face criminal prosecution across five cases following complaints filed with the Independent Authority for the Investigation of Allegations and Complaints Against the Police, after the Attorney General ordered proceedings against them.
The case files were transmitted to the Law Office towards the end of 2025, according to an official briefing given by the Authority to Phileleftheros.
The alleged offences include degrading treatment, unlawful arrest, assault and abuse of authority. The cases are being registered at District Courts in the cities where the incidents occurred. Video evidence exists for several of the cases under consideration.
Two cases in detail
In one case, five officers allegedly subjected a man to degrading treatment, unlawfully arrested him and assaulted him outside a kiosk in Larnaca during last Easter.
According to criminal investigators who examined the case, video footage supports the complaint. The officers are also to be charged with abuse of authority. The case is currently being registered at court.
In a second case, a citizen telephoned Germasogeia police station, an argument ensued, and he subsequently went to the station to seek an explanation. Station camera footage showed five officers at the entrance allegedly preventing him from entering.
Two of those officers allegedly grabbed and dragged him inside. Following an investigation by criminal investigators appointed by the Authority, the Attorney General directed that the two officers be charged with inhuman and degrading treatment and causing bodily harm.
Hundreds of complaints against police
A total of 355 complaints were filed against police officers in 2025 for alleged use of violence, mistreatment, misconduct or abuse of authority. Of these, 127 were referred to criminal investigators; the remainder were assessed as either vexatious, unfounded, retaliatory, or outside the Authority’s remit.
In 2024, around 400 complaints were filed, of which fewer than half were referred to criminal investigators. The presumption of innocence applies to all those involved.
Several complaints have already been filed in 2026 concerning officers’ conduct towards members of the public, both on the streets and at police stations.
Among the recent cases is a complaint letter sent by Ioanna Fotiou, also known as Annie Alexui, to Justice Minister Costas Fytiris concerning seven police officers. The letter was forwarded to the Authority, and a former state attorney has been appointed as criminal investigator to examine it.
Both the police and the Authority expect the recently passed legislation permitting the use of body cameras to reduce unlawful conduct by officers as well as vexatious complaints filed against them with the aim of pressuring officers to drop criminal cases.
Disciplinary proceedings
Beyond criminal prosecutions, six cases involving eight officers referred to possible disciplinary offences arising from cases examined by the Authority in 2025. In most cases where criminal prosecution is ordered, disciplinary proceedings are opened in parallel. A criminal conviction by a court also establishes the disciplinary case as proven.
One case still awaiting a decision on how to proceed involves a complaint about an incident in Paphos. Two officers stopped a motorcyclist for not wearing a helmet. The citizen allegedly reacted and one officer decided to arrest and handcuff him.
The citizen asked to accompany them to the police station to have the matter examined. Instead, one officer allegedly drew his service pistol and pointed it at the motorcyclist without significant provocation.
Video footage of the incident exists. The file, along with all relevant material, has been sent to the Law Office and instructions are awaited.
Authority remains understaffed
The Authority’s standing request for additional staff has not advanced, nor has legislation that would allow it to employ permanent criminal investigators.
Such investigators would allow for immediate appointments and avoid what the Authority describes as wasteful public expenditure under the current system, in which investigators drawn from an Attorney General-approved list are paid on an hourly basis.
The Authority has proposed hiring 10 permanent criminal investigators to handle complaints assessed as prima facie credible.
According to information obtained by Phileleftheros, the current system presents oversight difficulties: when investigators travel to cities such as Paphos to conduct inquiries, the hours declared — including travel time — cannot be independently verified. Permanent investigators would eliminate this problem.
