POLICE have requested arrest warrants in connection with the murder of five people in Ayia Napa on Saturday, though they haven’t released any further details in case it blights the investigation.
“It has been decided that arrest warrants should be requested against specific people,” Justice Minister Loucas Louca said.
The minister wouldn’t say how many warrants would be requested, saying the number was insignificant. Pressed hard for more information, Louca pointed out: “Any more details could harm further investigation of the case; these persons have definitely been located by the police.”
Even though the warrants were expected to be issued yesterday, Louca wouldn’t say when. Asked if the force was close to solving the case, he said: “Of course. This is why we have moved ahead with the warrants.”
Louca said over 100 policemen had been working on the case, which was why there were results so soon.
At reporters’ persistent questioning, Police Chief Michalis Papageorgiou intervened, saying that if any witness accounts were made public, “it would be like we are telling the culprits to destroy the existing witness account”.
Meanwhile, Louca was clearly incensed when informed that four former police chiefs and justice ministers had told Sigma TV that the killings were the result of the police force not doing its job properly.
“When they were police chiefs and ministers, what did they do?” he wondered. “Where was crime then?”
The minister said the police had managed to solve the Ayia Napa murder in record time, finding suspects and issuing arrest warrants.
The five victims – three Cypriots aged 28, 33 and 35, and two Romanians aged 25 and 33 – were killed when the black BMW they were in was sprayed with bullets at a little after 3am on Saturday.
The driver had attempted to escape by scrambling out of the car, but was shot dead a few metres away. The car came to a stop when it hit another parked car.
The killings, unprecedented for Cyprus, occurred on a side street in the heart of Ayia Napa’s nightclub scene.
Four of the victims worked as security guards for Famagusta district businessman, Phanos Kalopsidiotis.
In an interview with Phileleftheros newspaper yesterday, Kalopsidiotis denied he intended to seek revenge, adding that he wasn’t scared for his own safety but that of his children.
“It is not in my character to react in such a way,” he told the paper.
Kalopsidiotis stressed he was a legitimate businessman and refuted rumours he was implicated in the underworld or gangs.
At the time of the interview, the 47-year-old businessman was arranging the transportation of the two Romanians killed in the shoot-out back to their country, and when asked if he would be attending the other three victims’ funerals, he said “no”.
The 47-year-old studied criminology in the US, before returning to Cyprus in 2004 and running a family-owned business in Ayia Napa Square.
He opened a club and then purchased a betting shop and realising the money was good, he decided to centre his efforts there. In 2005 he was employed by Stanley Bet as its general manager in Cyprus. Earning big money, he then started his own real estate agencies – 16 shops islandwide. He opened up a fast food shop and another club.
Kalopsidiotis then started up his own privately-owned betting shop, and this is where he says the trouble started.
“I see the fact that I had no relation with the underworld or those who are well known in the underworld scene, bothered some people,” he told the paper.
He said he had been asked by certain individuals to cooperate, but he refused “for various reasons”.
Kalopsidiotis said rumours that his businesses were in any way illegitimate were untrue.
“It is very easy for someone to check on my activities,” he pointed out. “Everything is at the accountant’s, audited.”
Cyprus Mail