An anti-racism demonstration in Nicosia on Sunday afternoon ended with four arrests for allegedly insulting police officers, with one person later released.
According to our sources, the police arrested two women and two men, though it remains unclear on what charges. In-cyprus approached the police for statements but they did not provide any.
In response to the arrests, protesters gathered outside the police station at the end of Ledra Street in a sit-in protest, demanding the release of those detained, claiming they had done nothing wrong.
Video footage obtained by philenews showed one of the arrests taking place.
The protest, which began peacefully at 12:30 p.m. from Nicosia’s Municipal Garden to the end of Ledra Street, drew approximately 300 participants, including both Cypriots and migrants.
Demonstrators reported that police officers entered the crowd and made arrests as the march was concluding.
A lawyer present at the scene reported that police officers were heard saying, “We will charge at them and disperse them”.
The demonstration was organised following the killing of a 24-year-old Pakistani migrant by a police officer in the buffer zone.
The protest, organised by the group “Initiative Against Border Violence”, comes amid outrage and condemnation over the police’s handling of migration as well as concerns about increasing racism and intolerance in local society.
In an announcement on Facebook, organisers said the latest killing “reveals the normalisation of violence against migrants and the depth of institutional racism“.
“The bullets of the border policies did not come out of nowhere”, they state, citing a pattern of incidents including “mass imprisonment of migrants in Pournara, push-backs at sea, racist pogroms in Chloraka and Limassol” and the death of Anisur Rahman during a migrant raid in Limassol in April 2024.
The campaigners argue that “migrant workers occupy the most underpaid and dangerous roles of Cypriot society”, adding that “this exploitation is the design of state policies not a hiccup”. They warn that “in times of crisis, such as today, there is an increase in deportations, pushbacks and the violence that accompanies them”.
“We have no trust in the state and the police who investigate themselves and try to cover up their actions”, the announcement declares. “We demand to know the name of the murdered man and the name of the murderer”.
The organisers emphasise their rejection of divisions between communities, stating: “We do not accept that we are ‘other’ than migrants in Cyprus – we are neighbors, coworkers, and migrants ourselves. Our interests are common”.
The demonstration, organised under the slogan “Solidarity Smashes Borders”, is calling for broader support, with organisers urging “groups and individuals to support the call or make their own for Sunday’s demonstration”.
